2003 Marad riots case: Kerala court hands double life term to 2 accused

A special court in Kozhikode on Tuesday awarded double life sentence to Koyamon alias Hyderkutty and M Nizamuddin, the two accused in the Marad riot case of 2003 in which eight persons were stabbed to death, officials said. After the riot, one of the accused fled to a middle-east country and the other jumped the bail and absconded during the trial.

Both were found guilty by the special court judge K S Ambika on November 20 and the quantum of punishment announced was on Tuesday. The trial of the duo was held separately as they were absconding and were later arrested by police in 2011.

Koyamon was found guilty under the explosives act for manufacturing country-made bombs and Nizamuddin for murder, rioting and other sections of the Indian Penal Code.

In 2009, the special court had sentenced 63 of the 139 accused who faced trial in the case. As many as 148 persons, including nine juveniles, were named in the case. In August 2012, the High Court had awarded life sentence to 24 more accused, setting aside their acquittal by the lower court.

The riot took place in May 2003 in Marad, a communally-sensitive beach village in Kozhikode, in which eight persons were killed, many were injured and some houses were damaged.