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Delhi riots case: Court slams cop over ‘manipulation’ of evidence
The court added that instead of tracing and prosecuting the actual culprits, the present accused has been framed for assault on the victim
A Delhi court expressed serious concern over a case where a Delhi police officer investigating a 2020 northeast Delhi riots case allegedly manipulated evidence, leading to the false implication of an accused.
Acquitting the accused, Sandeep Bhati, the court directed the Delhi Police Commissioner to review the investigating officer’s (IO) conduct and take appropriate action.
The case before the court pertained to an attempt to murder charge against Bhati, with the prosecution primarily relying on a video clip purportedly showing him participating in the assault.
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However, the court discovered that the IO had presented a truncated version of the clip, deliberately omitting a critical segment where Bhati was seen intervening to prevent the assault.
Additional sessions judge Pulastya Pramachala observed that instead of conducting a thorough investigation and identifying the actual culprits, the IO framed Bhati by manipulating evidence.
“The IO did not use the longer video, rather he cut short that video for 5 seconds, to omit the portion showing the accused stopping others from assaulting the victim,” the court noted.
It added that instead of tracing and prosecuting the actual culprits, the present accused has been framed for assault on the victim.
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The court said, “It is well apparent that the IO shrugged off his duty to properly investigate all these complaints and to submit his report based on complete investigation… there is no concrete evidence on the record of this case, except testimonies of these complainants, to establish the alleged incidents and reasons thereof”.
According to the prosecution, on February 24, 2020, police were alerted about an injured person admitted to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital. The injured, later identified as Shahrukh, claimed he was attacked by a mob near Shiv Vihar Tiraha while returning home in an auto-rickshaw.
He alleged the mob dragged him out, beat him with sticks and stones, and shot him in the leg and chest.
During the investigation, six other complaints related to vandalism were clubbed with the case, citing similarities in time, place, and nature of incidents.
However, the court criticised the IO for failing to investigate these complaints properly, noting that only three site plans were prepared, and no substantial investigation was conducted.
On November 20, 2020, Shahrukh’s brother, Sameer Khan, provided the police with a CD containing two video clips and identified Bhati in the footage.
Bhati was arrested on December 23, 2020, and the prosecution presented 16 witnesses during the trial. Nevertheless, the court found glaring lapses in the investigation, including the IO’s failure to verify the video’s authenticity and trace its origin.
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Testimony revealed that 18 photographs, allegedly screenshots from the video, were handed over to the IO by a public witness. However, the court found that these images were not from the video submitted by the prosecution but from the omitted five-second segment.
“The IO did not even attempt to identify the person who posted the video on WhatsApp or trace its source,” the court observed.
Criticising the IO’s handling of the case, the court concluded that Bhati was falsely implicated based on incomplete and manipulated evidence.
“In view of the IO’s failure to properly investigate, clubbing unrelated complaints without proper inquiry, and falsely implicating the accused using a doctored video, it is deemed fit to refer the matter to the Delhi Police Commissioner for assessment of the IO’s conduct,” the court stated while acquitting Bhati of all charges.
