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Jharkhand high court to hear plea for NIA probe into June 10 Ranchi violence on Friday
Jharkhand high court agreed to a request for an urgent hearing for a petition that sought a NIA probe into the Ranchi violence on June 10
The Jharkhand high court has agreed to hear on Friday a petition that sought a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the violence that broke out in the state capital on June 10 violence. Two persons were killed dead and over a dozen others were injured in the violence.
“We mentioned the matter today and the chief justice has agreed to hear the matter on Friday. We have provided all relevant documents related to the incident to underline the gravity of the situation and larger conspiracy in the incident,” said lawyer Rajeev Kumar, who appeared for the petitioner Pankaj Yadav.
The petition sought NIA investigation in the ‘preparation, execution and funding of the targeted violence’ which it said, was orchestrated by a few maulanas, or Muslim scholars. in Ranchi.
Massive violence erupted in Ranchi last Friday during protests over suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled party leader Naveen Kumar Jindal’s controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammed.
Apart from NIA, Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax department and the Jharkhand government, the petioner has listed Asaduddin Owaisi, chief of the Hyderabad-headquartered All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and Yasmin Farooqui of the Social Democratic Front of India as respondents. In the petition, he accuses the two of provoking religious hatred.
The petitioner has also demanded assessment of damage to private and public property and asked that the court order an auction of the property of those behind the violence to compensate for the losses.
Police have registered 25 FIRs, including at least 17 on complaints by private individuals, naming at least 22 protesters besides hundreds of unnamed people.
The petition comes days after a controversy over the Jharkhand Police releasing posters of 33 suspects in cases linked to the violence but later withdrawing them on the instructions of the state government, which cited a ruling of the Allahabad high court in January this year describing the move as a “violation of Article 21 of Constitution” and an “unwarranted interference in the privacy of people”.
