Twenty-two people accused of killing 17 people from the minority community in Delol village of Panchmahal district in 2002 were acquitted due to lack of evidence by the additional sessions court in Halol. Eight of the 22 had died during the course of the 18-year long trial.
The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) examinations on the bones that were allegedly from the victims were inconclusive, despite the court's examination of all the evidence. Additionally, over 100 witnesses were questioned, many of whom "became hostile," according to counsel Gopalsinh Solanki, who was in charge of defending each defendant.
Communal unrest spread throughout the state in 2002 as a result of the Sabarmati train massacre in Godhra town, which claimed 59 lives. On March 1, 2002, rioting broke out at Kalol town's Delol hamlet, some 30 km away from Godhra, a day after the tragedy. Several homes were burned down during the violence, which claimed the lives of 17 members of the minority community.
Police investigations came under the scanner in this case with one of the cops in Kalol being accused of not registering the FIR despite requests by victims and witnesses.
More than 20 months after the occurrence, a re-investigation was requested into the case, and an FIR was submitted in December 2003. In 2004, the fleeing defendants were found and taken into custody. "After the local court denied their claim for bail, they went to the Gujarat high court, which in 2004 granted them bail. Since then, they have been out on bail, according to Solanki.
