NEW DELHI: The Indian Supreme Court has granted bail to 17 individuals accused of burning 33 Muslims in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The court ordered the accused to reside in neighboring Madhya Pradesh and embark on social work. The Supreme Court also ordered the Madhya Pradesh administration to divide the suspects into two groups.

One group will remain in the inner house and the other will be kept in Jabalpur temple.

It may be recalled that 18 years ago, in 2002 in the Indian state of Gujarat, more than a thousand people were killed as a result of the Hindu-Muslim riots, the majority being Muslims.

The current Prime Minister Narendra Modi was then the Chief Minister of Gujarat and allegedly everything happened by orders. Before the riots broke out, an on-going train from Godhra had been established which killed more than 50 people.

Hindus massacred Muslims by blaming them for the train accident which resulted in the loss of lives and financial loss of thousands of Muslims.