[Delhi Riots] 'Attacked Every Hindu Who Passed By': Court Frames Charges Against Five In Murder Case

A Delhi Court on Saturday framed charges against five men, accused of murdering a 40-year-old man during the 2020 riots, for promoting enmity between different religious groups and committing public mischief - after noting they were allegedly part of a mob which attacked "every Hindu who passed by".

Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat framed charges against Imran, Asif, Mohd. Shahzad, Mohd. Shariq and Mohd. Imran under Sections 143, 144, 147, 148, 188, 302, 149, 153A and 505 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. They are accused of stabbing the victim Prem Singh.

The Judge also charged one of the accused Asif for the offence under Section 27 of the Arms Act, noting that he stabbed the deceased.

The accused were however discharged for the offence of criminal conspiracy under section 120B of the Code on the ground that there was no material on record to show that the act was committed in furtherance of common object.

"All accused persons were part of the specific religious Muslim community as per the statement of witnesses and were constantly shouting "Allah­ho­Akbar", " Maro kaffiron ko", " Kaffir wants to evict us from the country and kill these kaffir" and while shouting the said slogans attacking every Hindu who was passing by and chased and stabbed the deceased Prem Singh in the present case," the Court said, while framing charges under Sections 153A and 149 IPC.

The FIR was registered on the complaint of a sub-inspector alleging that an unknown man was brought to a hospital in unconscious condition. The complaint said that according to another patient there, the victim was allegedly assaulted by a mob at Maujpur Red Light.

The victim was later identified as Singh during the course of investigation in another FIR concerning the riots. His post-mortem report suggested that he was attacked by a sharp weapon.

It was the case of accused persons that they be discharged as the statement of witnesses were not believable and were recorded at a very late stage.

It was also argued by their counsel that no court-ordered test identification parade (TIP) was conducted to substantiate the prosecution's case, adding that even their CDR location could not prove their presence at the place of incident. 

The police witnesses are interested witnesses and their testimonies cannot be relied upon, it was argued further.

However, the court took note of the statement  a public witness, Diwakar Dubey, who told the police that he saw about 200 to 300 muslim persons who were shouting religious slogans and were pelting stones on those from the Hindu community.

He later identified Imran and Asif from the dossier containing their photographs on April 10, 2020. Dubey stated that two were involved in the riots, adding that while Asif was holding a big knife, Imran was having one desi katta.

Similar statement was given by another witness, Raman Kohli, who also identified the deceased and stated that he could identify the rioters who killed him. In his supplementary statement, he identified Imran and Asif claiming that they were involved in the killing of Prem Singh.

Other witnesses who gave similar statements included a police constable and another public witness who supported the prosecution's case.

Taking note of the statements of witnesses, the Judge said "Thus, on the basis of the contents of the charge­sheet duly supported by the statement of the witnesses, it has come on record that on 25.02.2020 at about 12.30 PM a riotous mob (unlawful assembly) consisting of 100­-250 Muslim rioters persons including the accused persons namely Imran @ Cheera, Asif, Shehzad, Shariq and Mohd. Imran armed with danda, big knives, sword, stones, pistol, desi katta, etc. were doing rioting, attacked and stabbed the deceased Prem Singh leading to his death by the unlawful assembly in prosecution of common object, thus, attracting Section 143, 144, 147, 148, and 302 IPC read with Section 149"