Delhi court acquits 12 men in 2020 riots murder case, cites lack of evidence

The case is one of nine murders investigated by the Delhi Police in which the 12 accused stood trial for allegedly attacking victims

A Delhi court has acquitted 12 men accused of murdering a man during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, citing the prosecution’s failure to identify the perpetrators or establish their role in the killing.

The 2020 Delhi riots, which followed violent clashes between supporters and opponents of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, left 53 people dead and over 500 injured. (HT Archive)

The accused were tried for the murder of Aamir Khan, whose body was recovered from the Bhagirathi drain in Gokulpuri on 27 February 2020. A postmortem examination had revealed 25 injuries on his body.

In a detailed order delivered on May 13, additional sessions judge (ASJ) Pulastya Pramachala of the Karkardooma courts held that the prosecution had failed to prove that the accused were part of the mob that killed Khan.

“Unless it is shown that there was a mob, which killed Aamir, and unless the identity of members of the culprit mob is established, vicarious liability cannot be fastened upon anyone else,” the court observed.

The judge also noted that no concrete evidence was presented to suggest that those identified as part of a mob at another time or location were involved in Khan’s murder. “In the absence of any concrete evidence, it cannot be presumed that some people who were identified as part of a mob at some place at some other time, would also have been part of the mob which killed Aamir,” he said.

However, the court convicted one of the accused, Lokesh Solanki, under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, or place of birth) for circulating inflammatory content online. “The intent of the messages posted by accused (Lokesh), was to instigate others against Muslim persons,” the court said, adding, “This act was in fact alike spreading hatred for Muslim persons and to instigate others to resort to violence against them.”

The case is one of nine murders investigated by the Delhi Police in which the 12 accused stood trial for allegedly attacking victims with lathis, swords, and firearms after confirming their religious identity. The police said the accused were members of a WhatsApp group named Kattar Hindu Ekta, allegedly formed on 25 February 2020 to coordinate attacks on Muslims during the riots.

The prosecution had claimed that the group was used to mobilise men, circulate hate messages, and coordinate acts of violence. Several of the accused were arrested by the Delhi Police Crime Branch on the basis of their mobile IP addresses and WhatsApp chats recovered during the investigation.

So far, the 12 men have been acquitted in five of the nine murder cases, with the court repeatedly flagging gaps in the police probe, including contradictions in eyewitness accounts and inconsistencies in the timeline of events.

Just two weeks earlier, on April 30, judge Pramachala had acquitted the same group of accused in the murder of Aamir’s brother, Hashim. According to the prosecution, the two brothers were travelling together on a motorcycle when they were allegedly stopped and attacked by a mob. The burnt remains of the bike were later recovered from the same drain where the brothers’ bodies were found. The vehicle was registered in the name of their mother.

In March, the judge had also acquitted the group in two other cases involving the deaths of Bhure Lal and Aamin, holding that WhatsApp conversations allegedly confessing to the murders did not amount to substantive evidence.

The 2020 Delhi riots, which followed violent clashes between supporters and opponents of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, left 53 people dead and over 500 injured. More than 2,000 individuals were arrested in the aftermath of the violence, with charges ranging from rioting and promoting enmity to murder.