Three more charge sheets filed in connection with northeast Delhi riots
New Delhi:
Delhi Police on Tuesday filed three charge sheets in a city court in connection with three separate murder cases that happened during the northeast Delhi riots in February, when 53 persons died and around 400 were injured.
Five persons were arrested and had been charged for the murders of three men, who were stabbed and bludgeoned to death by a violent mob at the Main Brijpuri Road during a communal clash on February 25.
The Main Brijpuri Road was one of those places where large -scale destruction of properties and loss of lives took place on February 24 and 25, police said in the charge sheet.
The mosque that was vandalised before rioters attempted to set it on fire and Rajdhani Public Senior Secondary School, which was torched, are near the Main Brijpuri Road, said a senior police officer, privy to the cases.
“Nearly 10 people were killed from both the communities on the first two days(February 24 and 25) in the area. The charge sheets have been filed in the murder cases of three Muslims on February 25. One of them was a mentally challenged resident. They were outside their house when the mob assaulted, stabbed and murdered them.,” said a police officer associated with the probe.
Police said in the charge sheet that on February 25, large-scale rioting took place in many parts of northeast Delhi. Around 4 pm, the members of one particular community targeted the shops and houses of the other community, which was fiercely resisted and this led to a large-scale rioting, stone pelting and arson from both the sides, police said in the charge sheet.
“...three members of the minority community were caught by a mob in front of Gali No 10, main Brijpuri Road near Chawla Kirana Store. They were assaulted and it led to their death. All three of them were declared brought dead at the Guru Teg Bahadur hospital...,” the police said in the charge sheet.
Police identified the three men as Ashfaq Hussain, Mohammed Zakir and Mehtab (identified only by his single name in police records) -- all in their 20s.
Three separate cases were registered at the Dayalpur police station and they were transferred to the special investigation team (SIT) of crime branch for probe.
Five men were arrested after they were identified as rioters with the help of CCTV footage, eyewitness accounts and technical surveillance.
The five who have been charged for rioting, murder and criminal conspiracy in the three separate cases were Ashok, Ajay, Shubham, Jitender and Aarif -- all of them referred only by their first names in a police statement.
All of them are in the judicial custody, the police said in the charge sheets.
Nearly 120 charge sheets have been filed by the crime branch and the north-east district police, so far. More than 750 cases were registered in connection with the riots.