Delhi riots: Court orders framing charges of murder against 7 accused

A court here has ordered framing of charges against seven accused for various crimes, including murder, in a case of the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, saying there were “prima facie” grounds for presuming they had committed the offences.

The court, however, “completely discharged” five accused, saying there was no “concrete evidence” against them.

Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat was hearing a case against 12 people, who were accused of being a part of a riotous mob that attacked and killed a man named Vinod Kumar in Brahmpuri on February 24, 2020. They were also accused of attempting to kill a few others.

“I am of the opinion that prima facie, there are grounds for presuming that accused persons namely Arshad, Rais Ahmad, Mohammed Sageer, Mehtab, Gulzar, Mohammed Imran and Amiruddin Malik have committed offences ,” the judge said in an order passed on Tuesday.

ASJ Rawat said the seven accused were liable to be tried under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly) 188 (disobedience of order duly promulgated by public servant), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 435 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to cause damage to an amount of Rs 100 or upwards).

He said the contents of the charge sheet were duly supported by the statements of the witnesses.

The court noted the statement of witnesses, according to which the accused were part of a specific religious community that shouted slogans and attacked people of another community, besides “chasing and shooting dead” Vinod Kumar.