Court charges 4 with murder in Delhi riots case; accused plead not guilty

A Delhi court on Friday framed charges of murder, rioting, and criminal conspiracy against four- Anwar Hussain, Kasim, Shahrukh, and Khalid Ansari- for allegedly killing a man during the riots in Delhi last year. The court further termed it a calculated attack.

The four are accused of murdering a man called Deepak by beating near Ambedkar College on February 25, 2020. As per the postmortem report, Deepak died of hemorrhagic shock. The Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat framed charges against the accused persons under requisite sections. He also explained to them in vernacular in the presence of their lawyers. The four have pleaded not guilty and claimed trial in the case.

"By the manner of their mobilization and intent as construed from their conduct, the said unlawful assembly can be said to have conducted itself for riots and other offences like the murder of deceased Deepak, in the prosecution of their common object. The conspiracy is also writ large by the calculated attack on the victim by the unlawful assembly," the judge said.

Sunil Kumar, an eyewitness to the incident, gave a complete picture, said the judge. Sunil explained how the deceased Deepak was killed by the "armed Muslim mob consisting of accused persons."

"On February 25, one Muslim unlawful assembly coming from Kardampuri Pulia and shouting Allah Ho Akbar was trying to cross the Pulia Gokulpur. The said armed unlawful assembly caught hold of Deepak who was mercilessly beaten," said Sunil, as per the court order. He claimed that he hid behind a wall behind the drain and saw the murder through a gap in the wall. He further identified the four accused by their names.

"Thus, for the purpose of the charge, the prosecution has been able to satisfy the Court that an unlawful assembly including accused persons in the prosecution of their common object had committed riots and hit the deceased Deepak with a deadly weapon causing his death," the court noted.

There are grounds for presuming that the four accused committed offences under sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon), and 302 (murder) read with Section 149 (member of unlawful assembly guilty of the offence committed in prosecution of common object) of IPC, said the court. Charges have also been framed under sections 302 (murder) with 120B (criminal conspiracy).

After Citizenship (Amendment) Act supporters and protestors clashed in northeast Delhi, it spiralled into a pogrom targeting the minority Muslim community in February 2020, leaving at least 53 dead and over 700 injured.