New Delhi: A Delhi court has granted bail to one of the men alleged by Delhi Police to have been an associate of Tahir Hussain and to have injured a man in the February 2020 riots by noting that the accused had neither been specifically named in the complaint, and nor were the witnesses’ accounts dated.
LiveLaw has reported that one Kasim had been accused of firing at and injuring one Prince Bansal, a 19-year-old boy. Kasim, who Delhi Police said was one of the associates of former Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain, had pleaded that he was being falsely implicated in the case.
The court of Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav observed that Bansal had “not specifically named” Kasim in his complaint made on March 2, 2020. Prince had been injured in his upper abdomen during the riots.
Also read: Delhi Riots: Court Raps Police For ‘Callous Attitude’ in Madina Masjid Burning Probe
Judge Yadav also held that the statements made by witnesses were “undated” and there was no “suitable or plausible explanation” for this by police. Two men, Kuldeep Bansal and Narender Bansal, had made statements as witnesses.
Kasim’s counsel had argued that constables who had allegedly witnessed the attack on Bansal waited until the FIR was lodged to identify and name Kasim, instead of reporting the matter to the police station – a chain of events for which there was no justification.
Kasim is also not visible on CCTV footage or any other video clip, and nor has any incriminating material been recovered from him, the judge observed.
“…[I]t is further a matter of record that even no call at number 100 was made by the aforesaid witnesses on the date of incident,” the judge said.
“According to the statements recorded by the IO [investigating officer], Prince had alleged that one of the persons belonging to a riotous mob, which was pelting stones, throwing petrol bombs and firing gunshots from Hussain’s terrace, had shot him resulting to him sustaining injury,” the LiveLaw report said.
The judge observed that the trial would take a long time to be completed and Kasim would have to remain in jail simply because other members of the riotous mob are left to be identified and arrested.
Tanveer Malik, a co-accused of Kasim’s, has also been granted bail, strengthening the case for parity.
On April 7, the same judge had rapped the Delhi Police for its laxity in investigating the burning of a mosque during the February 2020 riots, calling its approach “callous.”
Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav had initially also expressed dissatisfaction with Delhi Police for not having maintained files in connection with the probe into the desecration of the Madina Masjid.