2020 Delhi riots: Court acquits 12 men accused of murdering Muslim man
A Delhi court on Wednesday acquitted 12 men who were allegedly involved in the killing of a man named Hashim Ali during the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots.
The Special Public Prosecutor in this case had relied on WhatsApp chats from a group in which the accused persons had made 'extra-judicial confessions', stating that 'your brother has killed two Muslim men'.
Referring to these chats, Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala of Karkardooma Court, in his order dated April 30, noted: 'Such posts/messages may be put in the group solely with intention of becoming hero in the estimation of other members of the group and it could be a boast also, without truth.'
'The argument of Ld. Prosecutor [is] that the chats show [the accused] Lokesh and others…, who were members of that group, were involved in the riots. However, I find that this plea is just a general presumption without support of substantive evidence,' the Court said.
It acquitted the 12 — Lokesh Kumar Solanki; Pankaj Sharma; Ankit Chaudhary; Prince; Jatin Sharma; Himanshu Thakur; Vivek Panchal; Rishabh Chaudhary; Sumit Chaudhary; Tinku Arora; Sandeep; and Sahil.
The FIR lodged in this case had alleged that the accused persons were involved in the killing of nine Muslim persons. Of these nine, two were Hashim Ali and his brother Aamir Khan. The prosecution had alleged that the accused had conspired to teach Muslims a lesson for attacking the Hindus during the 2020 riots.
Witnesses examined by the prosecution had alleged that the accused persons were carrying stones, sticks, swords and iron rods and were shouting slogans like 'Jai Sri Ram' and 'Har Har Mahadev'.
The Delhi Police had filed multiple chargesheets naming a WhatsApp group, named 'Kattar Hindu Ekta', in connection with the nine murders. Lokesh was the first person arrested in the case, and during his questioning, he named the other accused persons who were a part of the group.
Between February 24 and 26 in 2020, the riots engulfed the Capital, leaving 53 dead, over 500 injured, and damaging property worth crores.
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