A Bhagalpur court on Monday convicted 14 people in the Bhagalpur communal riots of 1989 in which 116 people belonging to the minority community were killed.

Holding them guilty, Additional District and Sessions Judge Shambhunath Mishra fixed June 27 for announcing the quantum of punishment.

However, one of the convicts identified as Jaiprakash Mandal escaped from the court soon after the judgment was pronounced.

A warrant of arrest was quickly issued by the ADJ against the escapee.

Those convicted in the case include, the then officer in-charge of Jagdishpur Police station Ramchandra Singh and village Chowkidar Thakur Paswan.

There were twenty-four accused in the case, involving the slaughter of 116 people, including women and children, at Logain village under Jagdishpur police station of the district.

The victims were killed and their bodies dumped in a mass grave on which cauliflowers were planted to camouflage it.

Of the 24 accused, six died during the trial and four never turned up. They were declared proclaimed offenders and their properties attached.