Man held over death of constable during Delhi riots granted bail

The court granted bail to Danish on a personal bond of ₹20,000 and one surety of the same amount.

The Delhi high court on Tuesday granted bail to a cab driver who was arrested for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to incite the communal riots in north-east Delhi in February last year. The court said that according to the call detail records (CDR), the accused person was not even in the vicinity of the area where the incident took place.

The Delhi riots, between February 24-26, left at least 53 people dead. (Sanchit Khanna/HT file photo)

Justice Suresh Kait granted bail to Mohammad Danish who was arrested in connection to the death of head constable Rattan Lal in the Chand Bagh area. According to the call records, no call was made by him to any of the other accused, the judge said.

Lal’s death was the first reported casualty when incidents of stone pelting in north-east Delhi on February 23 turned into a full-blown riot the next morning. He had received a bullet wound, apart from multiple injuries to his head and body during one of many incidents of stone-pelting that took place that day.

“Undisputedly, there is no CCTV footage or viral video to implicate the present petitioner (Danish)… In view of the facts discussed above and the facts that the charge-sheet has already been filed, the petitioner is no more required for investigation and trial of the case shall take substantial time, I am of the view, the petitioner deserves bail,” the court said.

The court granted bail to Danish on a personal bond of ₹20,000 and one surety of the same amount.

It directed Danish not to influence the prosecution witnesses during the trial and disposed of his bail plea.