RANCHI: Murder charges against 11 persons accused in the lynching of 24-year-old Tabrez Ansari have been dropped in the charge sheet filed by police in the court on the basis of the autopsy report which indicated that he died of cardiac arrest.
According to the police, since the medical report did not indicate any supporting evidence of murder against the accused persons, charges under culpable homicide not amounting to murder, which is equally punishable, have been imposed against them.
Tabrez Ansari was allegedly thrashed for several hours and forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Jai Bajrang Bali’ on June 18 on suspicion of stealing a motorcycle with two other persons in Seraikela Kharsawan district of Jharkhand. He succumbed to his injuries four days later on June 22 in a hospital. Later the video of the incident went viral on social media.
The autopsy report, earlier prepared by the medical board in the case, suggested that the stress-induced cardiac arrest was behind Tabrez Ansari's death which occurred on June 22.
“In the charge-sheet filed in the court by the Investigating Officer, murder charges against all the accused persons in the case have been dropped, instead, charges under section 304 related to culpable homicide not amounting to murder have been added which means the deceased was not hurt with an intention to kill him,” said Ansari’s wife Shahista Parveen’s advocate Altaf.
He, however, said the court is yet to take cognizance of the charge sheet. “If the court refuses to add Section 302 in the case, I will approach the High Court for justice,” said the advocate.
The accused have been charged under Sections 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 325 (causing grievous hurt), 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings).
Altaf accused police of protecting the doctors, the police officials and the accused persons responsible for the death of Ansari.
“It is nothing but a move to protect the accused persons. The police are trying to protect them making the autopsy report a tool,” said the advocate. The autopsy report clearly mentioned that a head injury was found on the dead body which means that Ansari was thrashed brutally, therefore the charges must have been added in the charge sheet, he added.
“Moreover, the viscera report is still with the court in a sealed envelope. So how did the police reach the conclusion that Ansari died of cardiac arrest without opening it,” said the advocate.