Balurghat, Aug. 28: Cottage and small-scale industries minister Narayan Biswas was acquitted today along with 13 others in a case of rioting in Gangarampur in 1983.

Niren Biswas, the minister’s brother, and Manabesh Chowdhury, the South Dinajpur secretary of the CPM, were among those acquitted by the district court for want of evidence. “The charges against them could not be established. So, I am acquitting them unconditionally,” said judicial magistrate Malosia Gurung.

In a joint statement, Biswas and Chowdhury said: “We had been telling people that we were framed.”

Biswas resigned from the cabinet and surrendered before the court ahead of the Assembly polls after an arrest warrant was issued against him. He was denied bail and spent 26 days with Chowdhury in the district jail here.