Less than three months after teenager Junaid was stabbed to death in a Delhi-Mathura local train in June this year, four of the six accused arrested in the case are out on bail.
The Haryana Railway Police has also withdrawn charges of rioting, unlawful assembly and common intention against them in the charge sheet. Two other accused in the case remain unidentified.
The bail application of the fifth accused, Rameshwar, came up for hearing before the local court in Faridabad on Tuesday and an order in this regard is likely on Wednesday.
Chander Prakash (25), an accountant at a factory in Ballabgarh, was granted bail on July 27 — a month after he was arrested. Gaurav and Pradeep were let off on bail on August 2. Ramesh, a resident of Jodhpur village in Palwal, was granted bail on August 18.
He was arrested a day after the incident and the police had initially claimed that he was the prime accused in the case.
Disclosure reports
Advocate for the victim’s family Nibrash Ahmed told The Hindu that the Haryana Railway Police, in its reply to bail applications of the four men, dropped charges of rioting, unlawful assembly and common intention, which facilitated their bail.
The police have taken the plea that the charges were dropped based on the disclosure reports of the accused. The police filed a charge sheet on August 23 omitting the charges of rioting, unlawful assembly and common intention.
Mr. Ahmed said that the “police were acting under pressure” and had withdrawn the charges to help the accused. “It is an attempt to derail the case,” he added.
The advocate argued that Chander, Gaurav, Pradeep and Rameshwar belonged to the same village and were involved in an argument with Junaid and his brothers and were, therefore, part of unlawful assembly.
Mr. Ahmed alleged that the four men held Junaid while Naresh stabbed him, proving common intention in the case.
‘Under no pressure’
Deputy Superintendent of Police (Faridabad Railway Police) Mohinder Singh, however, denied all charges of acting under any pressure and contended that the police had carried out a free and fair probe in the case.
“The charges have been withdrawn based on the investigation in the case. It is now for the court to decide whether these charges should be added or not,” said Mr. Singh.
Mr. Ahmed, however, argued that it was unlikely that the court would seek addition of the charges if the police did not produce any evidence in the charge sheet supporting those charges.
Meanwhile, Junaid’s family claimed that his father Jalaluddin, worried over the developments in the case, suffered a heart attack two days ago and was being treated at a private hospital in Noida.
