Delhi riots: court grants bail to man, cites delay in recording of witness statement

January 01, 2021 04:37 am | Updated 04:37 am IST - New Delhi

A Delhi court has granted bail to a man in a north east Delhi riots case, saying the alleged eye witness and the beat Constable had identified him almost after two months from the incident.

Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat granted the relief to Deepak Tomar on furnishing a bail bond of ₹25,000 with one surety of like amount in the case related to alleged looting and vandalism of a shop during the riots in Jyoti Nagar area on February 25.

The court noted that the alleged CCTV footage of the accused was near the place of the incident of another FIR.

“As per chargesheet, there is a statement of public witness Mohd Rafiq under Section 161 [examination by police] CrPC which states that he was an eye witness to the incident of rioting, vandalisation and burning of properties including that of Imran on February 25, 2020, and named persons, including applicant/accused Deepak Tomar. However, the statement was recorded on April 22, 2020, only and the accused was not apprehended at his instance or put to identification later on.

“Constable Vijender, beat Officer, had identified the applicant but his statement recorded on April 22, 2020, only though the incident is of February 25, 2020,” the court noted in its order passed on December 18.

The court directed Tomar not to tamper with evidence or leave Delhi without its permission.

His counsel said he has been falsely implicated in the case and the FIR has been allegedly registered on “false” and “bogus” facts.

Special Public Prosecutor Rajeev Krishan Sharma, appearing for the police, opposed the bail plea saying the accused had allegedly actively participated in rioting, vandalisation, arsoning of properties and chanting slogans against a particular community.

Communal violence had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after clashes between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured. PTI URD RKS RKS

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