PATNA, Oct. 14 -- In a major decision on the 1996 Jehanabad massacre, the Patna High Court on Tuesday set aside the trial court's judgement and acquitted all the nine appellants in the absence of solid evidence and identification. All of them had been served life sentence by the trial court. The court also made sharp comments on the working style of the Bihar Police, sluggish investigation and serious negligence in collecting evidence. The incident took place on the night of August 8-9, 1996 under Karpi police station (now in Arwal district) over irrigation water dispute and attempt to break the bunch. In a sudden attack at night, four persons were killed and several others sustained injuries. After a long hearing, the trial court of additional district and sessions judge-2, Jehanabad delivered the judgment on April 3, 2023, convicting several accused and later served them life sentence. The order was challenged in the HC by nine persons and a criminal appeal was filed. The judgment was delivered by a bench of Justice Rajiv Ranjan Prasad and Justice Kumar Manish. Emphasising that even though the incident was extremely heinous and tragic, in which four people lost their lives, the HC observed that it is imperative to prove the offence with strong legal evidence and acquitted the accused for lack of it. "In recent times, this Court has given directions to the department of Home, and the DGP to look into the matters in which due to lapses on part of the Investigating Officers, acquittals have taken place. It is not known whether the orders of this Court are being complied with and the directions in this regard have yielded any significant result," the bench observed. The court said that "it is high time for the authorities to sit together and review its policy in this regard". "We are of the opinion that the manner in which the investigation agency has conducted the investigation would require review by a team of senior police officers," the court added. The bench directed the DGP to constitute a three-member committee of senior police officers of repute to take a view on the manner in which the investigation was done by the IO and based on that report, take an appropriate view of the matter in administrative side within a period of three months from the date of receipt/production of the copy of this Judgment....