New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday denied bail to two men — Ankit Chaudhary (alias Fauzi) and Rishabh Chaudhary — in a murder case related to the north-east Delhi riots last year. Significantly, both these men have been accused of as many as nine murders of Muslim men in the Bhagirathi Vihar area and throwing the bodies into the drain there.
They were also part of the group of Hindu rioters who had created multiple WhatsApp group chats (Kattar Hindu Ekta) to incite violence against members of the Muslim community and openly calling for their killings.
In fact, according to the transcripts of the group chats, members discussed violence against Muslim families found mourning their dead, boasted of having themselves killed many Muslim men.
The Delhi High Court has denied them bail in the murder case of one Aamin, who was one of the many victims of the group of rioters, and one among the nine bodies that were discovered from the Bhagirathi Vihar nala.
Denying Ankit bail in the case, a trial court had before this, ruled that the accused was prima facie present at the spot of the crime and was "exhorting the rioters of a particular community who could have killed anybody on his instigation".
On the WhatsApp groups that were used by these accused to plan their violence, the trial court had said the language used there was "highly communal in nature, clearly promoting disharmony, enmity and feelings of hatred towards the members of a particular community".
The group chats, put together, contain disclosures of as many as 19 murders. It also had messages praising BJP leader Kapil Mishra and asking others to follow his
instructions. At several points in the chats, one can see that members were stopping to check people's religion and then killing them if found to be Muslim.
In one of the group chats, there is also a reference to bringing groups of people from outside Delhi to "help them". Some also can be seen openly sharing contacts of arms dealers so that members of the group can call for and purchase ammunition and guns.
Ankit has been accused in as many as 14 cases related to riots — which include murder charges. Days ago, while arguing for his bail, his lawyer had contended how Ankit could be accused in 14 riots-related cases pertaining to different locations. He asked how his client could be in multiple places at once.