‘Insufficient’ proof : Court acquits 12 for murder of man during riots

A Delhi court acquitted 12 accused in a murder case from the 2020 riots, citing inconsistent eyewitness accounts and insufficient evidence.

A Delhi court has acquitted 12 people accused of abducting and killing a man during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, citing serious inconsistencies in eyewitness accounts and insufficient evidence.

The accused had been booked under multiple penal sections, including murder, rioting, unlawful assembly, kidnapping, destruction of evidence, and promoting enmity. (Shutterstock)

In the April 21 verdict, Additional Sessions Judge Parveen Singh of Karkardooma court said, “Prosecution has failed to prove its case against the accused beyond a reasonable doubt and the accused are entitled to benefit of doubt. All the accused are accordingly are acquitted of the charges framed against them.” The order was made public on Wednesday.

The case pertains to the death of one Musharraf, whose body was discovered in a drain in Bhagirathi Vihar on February 27, 2020, during the communal violence. According to Delhi Police, a mob of around 150–200 people allegedly stormed Musharraf’s home on the night of February 25, dragged him outside, assaulted him, and later disposed of his body in the drain.

The accused had been booked under multiple penal sections, including murder, rioting, unlawful assembly, kidnapping, destruction of evidence, and promoting enmity.

The court in its judgment noted that the case relied heavily on testimonies from the victim’s wife and daughter, who claimed to have witnessed the incident.

However, the judge found significant contradictions in their accounts, particularly regarding the sequence of events leading to Musharraf’s death.

“Individually, these discrepancies might be treated as minor variations; however, their cumulative effect is that the testimonies are mutually destructive and unreliable on the most material aspect of the case,” the court said.

The judge also questioned the conduct of the victim’s wife, describing it as “wholly unnatural”. Despite claiming to have seen her husband being killed, she neither contacted the police nor informed relatives for nearly two days. The court found it highly improbable that she would not disclose such information during that time.

Additionally, call detail records (CDR) presented by the prosecution were deemed insufficient by the court, as they only placed the accused in their general residential areas without directly linking them to the crime.

Regarding WhatsApp messages recovered from Lokesh Solanki, one of the accused persons accused of sending incendiary messages to the co-accused, the court acknowledged they indicated an intent to spread hatred.

However, since he had already been convicted for those same messages in a separate case, the court ruled he could not be punished again for the same offence.