By IANS,
Ranchi : A Dhanbad court Monday acquitted, for lack of evidence, 12 people accused of killing 13 policemen during a large-scale attack on a Jharkhand Police picket in 2001.
Additional District Judge (ADJ) R.N. Mishra pronounced the judgment Monday in the 2001 massacre case.
Hundreds of Maoists had attacked a police picket located at Tochachi in Dhanbad district of Jharkhand in October 2001. A majority of the attackers were women cadre. In the attack, 13 policemen were killed. Maoists looted guns, bullets and other belongings of the policemen.
Police had made more than 140 persons accused in the case. Charges were framed against 12 people, including Sunjyoti Manjhain, in 2003. She was made main accused of the case.
The court Monday acquitted all the 12 people in the absence of evidence. The 44 witnesses brought before the court by police did not identify any of the accused as the attackers in the massacre, one of the worst in Maoist violence in Jharkhand.