The Gujarat high court on Friday acquitted former Bharatiya Janata Party minister Maya Kodnani and upheld the conviction of ex-Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi in the 2002 Naroda Patiya riot case in which 97 people were killed by a mob.


A woman who lost her family in the massacre said, "Eight members of our family were killed before our eyes. If they are innocent, did we kill our children? Maya Kodnani has been declared innocent, two  years later Babu Bajrangi will be acquitted."


A division bench of Justices Harsha Devani and AS Supehiya, while acquitting Kodnani, said she should be given the benefit of doubt due to inconsistency in statements of witnesses.


The HC upheld the conviction of Bajrangi and found him guilty of criminal conspiracy (IPC section 120B) along with two other convicts Prakash Rathod and Suresh Jhala.


The trial court had sentenced Bajrangi to life imprisonment till death. However, the HC on Friday reduced his sentence to 21-year rigorous imprisonment without remission.