NEW DELHI: A Delhi Court has acquitted 12 men accused in two murder cases linked to the North East Delhi Riots of February 2020, ruling that the prosecution failed to substantiate the charges against them.
The court exonerated all the accused, identified as Lokesh Kumar Solanki, Pankaj Sharma, Ankit Chaudhary, Prince, Jatin Sharma alias Rohit, Himanshu Thakur, Vivek Panchal a.k.a Nandu, Rishabh Chaudhary alias Tapas, Sumit Chaudhary alias Badshah, Tinku Arora, Sandeep a.k.a Mogli, and Sahil alias Babu, of all charges on March 28.
The cases were registered at Gokulpuri Police Station under multiple charges, including rioting, murder, unlawful assembly, promoting enmity between communities, and destruction of evidence. After examining the evidence and circumstances, Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala of the Karkardooma Court acquitted all 12 accused and said, “In view of my discussions, observations, and findings, I conclude that the charges against the accused have not been proven at all.” The prosecution had relied on chat messages from a group conversation, linking them to the accused in multiple murder cases related to the riots.
These chats allegedly referenced the killing of two victims on the night of 26 February 2020, but the same conversation had also been cited in connection with the murders of nine people in separate cases.
The court found discrepancies in the prosecution’s claims, noting that in the present case, the alleged time of murder was 10:30 a.m, whereas the chats referred to an incident at night. “This contradiction itself shows that these chats cannot be related to the incident being examined in this case,” the court observed.
The judge further pointed out that such messages could have been posted in the group for self-aggrandisement rather than as genuine admissions of involvement. “A person might make such statements to gain status among peers or as mere bravado without any truth,” the court noted. According to the charge sheet, on 1 March 2020, police received a PCR call about a body found in Bhagirathi Vihar Nala.
The police recovered the decomposed body and sent it to RML Hospital. The deceased was later identified as Bhure Ali alias Salman through DNA testing, matching samples taken from his brother and father. In another case, a man named Aamin was allegedly killed by rioters on 25 February 2020 at around 9:30 p.m while walking near Brijpuri Pulia. His body was also found in a drain in Bhagirathi Vihar.
Forensic analysis confirmed his identity through DNA matching with his parents. However, the court questioned whether the accused were indeed part of the mob that killed Aamin, citing lack of evidence.