Srinagar: A special NIA court in Srinagar granted 17 people bail on a case of a police officer being killed outside Jamia Masjid in 2017, PTI reported.
Judge MS Manhas allowed the bail application on Wednesday and observed that were no reasonable grounds to believe that the accused were guilty of killing deputy superintendent of police Mohammad Ayoub Pandit.
On June 22, 2017, a mob killed Pandit outside the masjid in the Nowhatta area of the city when he was on duty in civvies during the Shab-e-Qadr that year.
The judge issued an 81-page order which read, "In the present case after perusing the material available on record including the statement of the witnesses recorded during trial, there are no reasonable grounds believing that accused persons or applicants are guilty of an offence as alleged in the charge sheet."
The court observed that there was no direct or indirect evidence on record that linked the accused to the crime.
"There is neither any direct nor any substantial evidence on the record which could connect the accused or applicants with the alleged crime. So, in the absence of ocular as well as substantial evidence on the record, the grounds taken by the learned counsel carry weight," the order said.