Court Convicts Hindus For Killing 116 Muslims

An Indian court convicted 14 Hindus on Monday for killing 116 Muslims and burying their bodies in a cauliflower patch during one of India's bloodiest communal riots nearly 20 years ago.

More than 1,000 people -- most of them Muslims -- were killed in Bhagalpur district in the eastern state of Bihar during a month of rioting in 1989.

The 14 men, including a policeman, were part of a mob that hacked to death 116 Muslim men, women and children with swords and daggers on October 27 that year.

Six other men accused of taking part in the killings have since died; four others are on the run.

The convicted men are due to be sentenced on June 27.

The Bhagalpur riots were triggered in part by a Hindu procession carrying bricks to build a temple at the site of an ancient mosque in Ayodhya.

Hindu nationalists, who believe the site to be the birthplace of Rama, an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, tore down much of the mosque in 1992.

The same controversy fuelled deadly riots in Gujarat state in 2002.

About 2,500 people, most of them Muslims, died in the Gujarat riots, according to rights groups. Officials say about 1,000 people died.