A local court here has imposed a cost of ₹25,000 on the Delhi police while questioning the fairness of the probe conducted into a case of a man who suffered a gunshot injury in his left eye during the north-east Delhi riots in February last year.
Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav censured Delhi Police for resisting registration of an FIR based on the complaint of the victim, Mohammad Nasir, a resident of North Ghonda in Delhi.
“It is clearly evident that defence for the accused persons named in the complaint of respondent [Mr. Nasir] has been sought to be created by the police,” the judge remarked while dismissing Delhi police’s appeal against an October 21, 2020, order of a trial court here directing registration of an FIR. .
Bhajanpura SHO
“Seeing the matter from any angle, I have not been able to persuade myself about the efficacy and fairness of the investigation carried out in the matter,” the judge remarked, adding that the investigation has “been done in a most casual, callous and farcical manner”.
The judge further noted the police “did not bother to look into the grievance of the respondent that he was being constantly threatened by the accused persons”.
The court directed the DCP (North-East) to deposit the fine with the Delhi Legal Services Authority within a week. It also said the fine amount should be recovered from the Station House Officer of Bhajanpura police station and his supervising officers, “who have miserably failed in their statutory duties in this case”.
The incident in question took place on February 24 last year, when Mr. Nasir was bringing his sister home from Max Hospital in Shalimar Bagh. When their cab reached Khajuri Chowk, they saw chaos and fires all around. The police officials present there advised him to avoid the normal route. They took a detour, but were stopped by rioters near Rubber Factory Chowk. They were allowed to proceed after Mr. Nasir told the rioters his name was Krishna.
The cab driver, however, insisted that he didn’t want to go any further due to the situation, so, Mr. Nasir and his sister left the cab at Gokalpuri flyover. On reaching the street of his house, he noticed a mob of around 100-150 people carrying rods, pistols, petrol bombs and swords etc, which was allegedly being led by the owner of M/s Tyagi Store.
Mr. Nazir alleged that since he belonged to a different community, Naresh Tyagi fired at him as a result of which he suffered gunshot injury in his left eye.
He was taken to Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital where he was operated upon and subsequently discharged on March 12, 2020.
On March 19, 2020, he gave a written complaint to the Bhajanpura SHO in which he named Naresh Tyagi, Subhash Tyagi, Uttam Tyagi, Sushil, Naresh Gaur and their other accomplices as the assailants. However, no FIR was registered by the police. Mr. Nasir then approached the trial court on July 17, 2020.
In the meantime, an FIR was lodged at the Bhajanpura police station on the statement of an Assistant Police Sub Inspector with regard to the incident of rioting in the area on February 24, 2020.
It was also recorded in the FIR that Mr. Nasir had suffered gunshot injuries at the spot on the date and time of the incident. It was further stated that besides him, six more persons: Ali Hasan, Altaf, Javed, Aman, Faizi and Adnan, had also suffered gunshot injuries. The court noted that all the injured persons were taken to hospitals by their family members and not by the police.
Police response
The police said all the accused persons named by Mr. Nasir had been thoroughly interrogated, “however, no evidence was found against them”. Police said Naresh Tyagi and Uttam Tyagi were not present in Delhi at the time, as they had gone to their native place for attending family functions. Sushil was present in his office on duty and nothing was stated about Naresh Gaur.
“Perusal of the case diaries reveals a very shocking state-of-affairs,” the court said. While the incident against Mr. Nasir happened at North Ghonda, the FIR was lodged in respect of Mohanpuri, Maujpur.
“The factum of seven persons... having suffered gunshot injuries was in the due knowledge of the investigating agency, however, for reasons best known to it, Section 307 of Indian Penal Code (attempt to murder) and Section 25 of the Arms Act were not invoked initially at the time of FIR registration,” the court noted.
The court also questioned why the police were unable to trace any eyewitnesses in the case despite the medicolegal case of Mr. Nasir clearly having his address.
