Bail for man after alleged victim goes 'missing'

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday granted bail to a man after the person he was accused of injuring in the north-east Delhi riots could not be traced and the police failed to even submit a statement from the alleged victim. Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat granted the relief to Imran on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 15,000 with a surety of like amount. The February riots had led to at least 53 deaths, over 40 of whom were Muslims and countless others were injured, their shops, homes and livelihoods destroyed. The Delhi Police have registered around 751 cases and filed around 280 chargesheet so far.

Imran's case was registered based on the fact that one Rahul (28) was injured during the riots in the Kabir Nagar area on February 25. The court said there was no statement of Rahul on record and Imran was only identified by Constable Satish in the case after a delay of one month.

"In the present case, Section 307 (attempt to murder) IPC (Indian Penal Code) has been attracted on account of injury to a person namely Rahul. However, Rahul is not traceable and no statement of Rahul is on record. There is no public witness on record who identified the accused except one Constable Satish who had also given a statement on March 26, though the incident was of February 25," the court said.

During the hearing, Special Public Prosecutor Saleem Ahmed, appearing for the state, informed the court the victim had given a fake address and mobile number and the police tried to search for him but he could not be traced. The public prosecutor further said that Constable Satish was present in the area during the riots and had seen the rioters, Ahmed claimed.

Advocate Saleem Malik, appearing for Imran, told the court that he was in judicial custody since April 9 in the case and has been falsely implicated. The chargesheet has been filed and nothing has been recovered from his possession, Malik said.