NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has convicted five men of culpable homicide and unlawful assembly in a 2020 northeast Delhi riots case, where a mob brutally killed Mohsin, a local resident.
The court, however, acquitted two accused, citing insufficient evidence. The judgment, delivered by Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala, pertains to a case registered by the Dayalpur police station. The accused were charged with participating in a riotous mob that caused Mohsin’s death near the Peer Baba Mazar in Chand Bagh on February 25, 2020.
Special Public Prosecutor Madhukar Pandey, representing the Delhi Police, argued that the accused were active participants in the mob. The court’s 63-page verdict highlighted that the prosecution established beyond doubt that five of the accused - Arun, Aman Kashyap, Ashish, Pradeep Rai, and Devender Kumar - were part of the unlawful assembly responsible for the attack.
While convicting the five men under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 148 (rioting with a deadly weapon) and 304(1) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) read with section 149 (unlawful assembly), the court noted the lack of evidence directly linking them to the fatal head injuries inflicted on the victim.
Instead, their criminal liability was based on their collective participation in the unlawful assembly, the court said.
“For want of a specific role attributed to any of these five accused persons for causing head injuries on the victim, their liability is limited to culpable homicide not amounting to murder,” the court said.
The court acquitted Krishan Kant and Rahul Bharadwaj, ruling that there was no evidence to prove their involvement in the riotous mob or to establish that Mohsin’s mobile phone, allegedly recovered from them, connected them to the crime.
The case has been scheduled for further proceedings, including sentencing, on December 4. Delhi police have registered more than 750 FIRs in connection with the communal clashes that broke out in the city’s northeast area in February 2020.
Around 24 FIRs were registered in New Usmanpur police station, 10 in Shastri Nagar, 118 in Gokulpuri, 76 in Dayalpur, 153 FIRs in Khajuri Khas, 91 in Karawal Nagar, 5 in Sonia Vihar, 137 in Bhajanpura, 26 in Welcome and 79 FIRs in Jafrabad.
Three Special Investigation Teams (SITs) were formed under the Crime Branch to investigate the cases. One of the cases was registered to unearth the conspiracy behind the riots, which was investigated by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police.