Court dismisses bail plea of violence accused in Delhi Turkman Gate demolition drive

A Delhi court denied bail to five accused of inciting violence during a demolition drive, citing serious attacks on police and public property.

NEW DELHI

The demolition drive in progress. (HT Photo)

A Delhi court on Wednesday dismissed the bail pleas of five persons accused of instigating violence during a demolition drive at central Delhi’s Turkman Gate last week, holding that the incident was “not a simple case of assault” but an attack on the administration.

Judicial magistrate first class Sayesha Chadha of Tis Hazari Courts, while deciding on the bail pleas of accused Mohammad Areeb, Mohd Kaif, Mohd Kashif, Adnan and Sameer, said, “The relentless pelting of stones, damage to government property and the injury sustained by the police officers during the discharge of their official duties is indeed not a simpliciter case of assault but an attack on the administration.”

The Delhi Police, represented by additional public prosecutor Atul Shrivastava, submitted that the accused persons had pelted stones at the police personnel, endangering their lives, despite a prohibitory order against gathering.

The prosecutor submitted videos and messages, reportedly circulated by the accused, alleging demolition of the mosque.

To be sure, the demolition drive was undertaken to raze illegal structures that had come up in the vicinity of the mosque.

Referring to voice recordings of two of the accused persons, reportedly Adnan and Sameer, the judge said that the accused persons were instigating fellow members on a WhatsApp group to create a gathering near the Faiz-e-Elahi Masjid, in order to stop the demolition.

Meanwhile, the counsel for the accused persons argued that the accused did not know each other and their call detail records did not show them at the site of the incident. They submitted that the accused had been arrested even before an FIR in the case was registered, constituting a premature arrest, merely to create a deterrent effect, without evidence of involvement.

The court, however, said that a careful perusal of the case diary showed that the accused persons were detained on the intervening night of January 6 and 7, an FIR was registered on the morning of January 7, and the accused were arrested in the evening.

“Considering the seriousness of the allegations, stage of investigation…the court deems it apposite to dismiss the bail applications of the accused persons…,” the order read.

A total of 20 persons have been arrested by the Delhi Police for their alleged involvement in the violence, which took place during an anti-encroachment drive near the Faiz-e-Elahi mosque at Ramlila Maidan. Six police personnel were injured after nearly 200 people gathered at the spot to allegedly stop the demolition drive.