Delhi riots: five charged with setting man on fire

Enough proof, says judge; accused plead not guilty, claim trial

September 17, 2021 01:03 am | Updated 01:03 am IST - New Delhi

Police conducting a flag march in riot-hit north-east Delhi.

Police conducting a flag march in riot-hit north-east Delhi.

A Delhi court on Thursday framed charges of murder and arson against five accused for allegedly setting a man on fire at Ramlila Ground during last year’s riots. The accused have pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.

As per Delhi Police, five men shot Mohd Anwar and set him on fire at Ramlila Ground opposite his house in Delhi’s Karawal Nagar, as he was from a “different community”. The police stated that only a small piece of his leg could be recovered.

Additional Sessions Judge said that prima facie there is enough material on record to frame charges against the accused, namely Lakhpat Rajora, Yogesh, Lalit, and two men named Kuldeep under the requisite sections of the Indian Penal Code.

The charges were explained to the accused persons in vernacular and asked if they plead guilty or claim trial, to which they all pleaded not guilty and claimed trial in the case.

The judge noted that the call data record (CDR) locations of all the accused have been found at the spot on the date of the incident, which is prima facie out of their routine locations. The ASJ also concurred with the prosecution’s contentions that the accused were not visible in the CCTV footage as the rioters had broken virtually every camera in the vicinity and damaged the digital video recorders.

The judge noted that even though there was a delay in recording the statement of public witnesses, he cannot lose sight of the fact that the police were facing difficulty to trace them as people were shocked and traumatised and it took them time to muster the courage to report the matter.

“Statements cannot be brushed aside merely because there has been some delay in recording thereof or that the complainant did not specifically name/identify the accused persons in his initial written complaint made to the police,” the sessions judge said.

They have been charged under Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 302 (murder), 395 (dacoity), 427 (mischief), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance) of the IPC and various sections of the Arms Act.

Under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), an accused should be informed of the offence under which he is charged. The basic purpose of the charge is to let them know of the offence that they are charged with so that they can prepare defence.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.