2020 Delhi riots: Seven murder accused granted bail by court

New Delhi: A local court on Monday gave bail to seven men who had been charged with murder during the 2020 riots in northeast Delhi, stating that despite the questioning of key witnesses, there was no substantial evidence against them.

The bail applications of Prince, Sumit Chaudhary, Sandeep, Tinku, Vivek Panchal, Pankaj Sharma, and Himanshu in the alleged murder of Amir Ali on February 26, 2020, near Johripur Jal Board Pulia in Gokalpuri, were being heard by additional sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala.

“I do not find it appropriate to keep the applicants behind bars till the conclusion of the trial, as despite examination of prime witnesses, no serious evidence has cropped up against them. Hence, all the bail applications are allowed and accused or applicants are admitted to bail, on their furnishing personal bonds and surety bonds of Rs 30,000 each with one surety in the like amount,” the judge said.

He said one of the eyewitnesses did not say anything regarding the alleged incident while the other six witnesses did not support the prosecution’s case.

The judge noted that though one head constable was yet to be examined, he had not identified any accused persons.

In the bail application, Pankaj Sharma — one of the accused — said the prosecution’s case relied heavily upon the ‘Kattar Hindu Ekta’ WhatsApp group and that many people posted messages in the group to provoke and incite riots.

“That as per the case of the prosecution, the WhatsApp group had 150 members. However, the applicant accused was never related to any such group, directly or indirectly,” the application said.

Earlier, the court (of predecessor Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhat in March 2022) had discharged Sharma from the charge of criminal conspiracy, it added.

The name of the WhatsApp group had surfaced in a supplementary chargesheet filed by Delhi Police on September 26, 2020, against nine people for the alleged murder of a man named Hashim Ali during the riots.

According to the charge sheet, the ‘Kattar Hindu Ekta’ group was created on February 25. Its alleged aim was to exact revenge for the troubles faced by Hindus and promote enmity between different groups on the ground of religion. It allegedly acted in a way which was prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony.

With PTI inputs