Delhi riots: Bail plea of murder accused rejected

New Delhi, Sep 05: A Delhi court has dismissed a bail application of an accused in a case related to murder of a local resident during the communal violence in northeast Delhi in February.

The court said it was prima facie apparent that the "riotous mob" armed with "weapons" had abducted the victim to commit his murder merely on account of the fact that he was from a different community.

Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav refused to grant the relief to Hemant Pratap Singh and said the offence was grave, wherein one innocent person was brutally murdered, just because of the fact that he belonged to the other community.

"From the evidence of a number of witnesses recorded in the matter, it is prima facie apparent that the 'riotous mob' armed with 'weapons' had abducted the deceased Suleman to commit his murder merely on account of the fact that he was from a different community," the court said in its order passed on September 2.

The court said the victim had received 11 injuries which spoke volume about the intensity of the dastardly act committed by the riotous mob during the course of communal riots.

"The offence in this matter is very grave, wherein one innocent person was brutally murdered, just because of the fact that he belonged to other community. A perusal of the post-mortem report of the deceased Suleman, reveals that he had received as many as 11 injuries, out of which as many as seven injuries were so grave in nature that they itself were independently and collectively sufficient to cause death of any person in ordinary course of nature, which speaks volume about the intensity of dastardly act committed by the riotous mob during the course of communal riots," it said.

It further said eye witnesses of the incident have clearly identified Singh was part of the "riotous mob" which had surrounded Suleman and his friends and beaten them.

"Even the father of applicant (Singh) has also identified him in the CCTV footage, where the applicant was clearly visible armed with an 'iron rod' and walking behind the riotous mob, who was prodding deceased Suleman with 'dandas'," the court said.

It, however, clarified that anything stated in the order should not be construed as expressing any opinion on the final merits of the case, as it was at "pre-cognizance stage".

During the hearing held through video conferencing, advocate Pradeep Teotia, appearing for Singh, said he has been falsely implicated in the case and the eyewitnesses were allegedly "planted witnesses".

Special Public Prosecutor Nitin Rai Sharma, appearing for the state, opposed the bail application and said during investigation, eye witness Sanober, who was present with Suleman at the time of the incident, gave a clear, categorical and step-by-step account of the series of events which happened with them.

According to the charge sheet, on February 26, mob of 30-40 persons had apprehended Sanobar, Sunil Kumar and Suleman near Karawal Nagar area.

The mob had asked for their ID cards which were shown by them, after which they asked Sunil to leave the spot, but he denied, the charge sheet alleged.

The mob forced Sunil to run away after beating him and then started beating Sanobar and Suleman mercilessly, it claimed.

It further stated that someone from the mob allegedly assaulted Suleman with sticks and threw his body to a nearby drain when he fell unconscious.

Suleman had succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.

Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.