Delhi riots: Two get bail due to contradictory statements by witness

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday granted bail to two persons in a case related to communal riots in north-east Delhi in February, stating that the first statement

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday granted bail to two persons in a case related to communal riots in north-east Delhi in February, stating that the first statement of a witness recorded by the police in March did not name the two men -- Gulfam and Aatir.

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Additional sessions judge Amitabh Rawat granted bail to Gulfam alias Sonu Chikna and Aatir on a personal bond of Rs 25000. The court also stated that there was no CCTV footage of the incident of the case where the two men could be identified. Both the accused persons were lodged at the Mandoli jail complex.

The FIR in the case was registered regarding an incident of stone pelting by a mob, in which a few police personnel suffered injuries and a man named Rohit Shukla was shot allegedly by some members of the mob. As per the FIR, the incident took place on February 24 at about 11.30 pm at Maujpur Chowk.

The special public prosecutor while opposing the bail applications of the accused contended that Shukla had told the police on April 1 that two men were among the many in a group shouting slogans against the Citizenship Amendment Act and urging others to kill people.

However, the judge while granting bail to the accused said that the “said witness in the previous statement recorded on March 9 had not named the two accused persons”.

“It is also relevant that the said witness in the previous statement recorded on March 9 has not named the present applicants (Gulfam and Aatir),” the judge said in its order dated November 6.

The judge, while granting bail said that the two men would not contact the witnesses in the present case or try to influence any of them.

Meanwhile, the court also dismissed the bail application of another accused Salman, named in the same case, while stating that he was arrested on March 12, on the basis of a statement of a public witness, Tahir, who had identified Salman as part of a mob indulging in rioting in Maujpur Chowk on February 24.

Judge Rawat said that Tahir had given a statement to the police on March 9 that he had seen Salman, whom he knew, shouting inflammatory slogans along with others.

The court noted his submissions that he had specifically stated that he had seen Salman involved in stone pelting at Maujpur Chowk on February 24.

Communal riots between Hindus and Muslims had broken out in parts of north east Delhi in February, which claimed 53 lives and left 607 injured.