karkardooma court
– Photo: Social Media
Expansion
Raising doubts on the testimony of a police head constable in a riots case, the Karkardooma court acquitted nine accused of rioting, arson and other offences, giving them the benefit of doubt. The court noted that the witness constable revealed the role of the accused after 15 days and also failed to explain why there was delay in informing the senior officers. The accused are accused of setting a shop and house on fire during the riots.
Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala, in his judgement, said that the testimony of Head Constable Vipin alone cannot be sufficient to infer the presence of the accused persons in the crowd. Police alleged that the accused had set ablaze the property of the complainant in Chaman Vihar. The court accused Mohd. Shahnawaz alias Shanu, Shahrukh, Mohd. Shoaib alias Chhutwa, Azad, Mohd. Faisal, Rashid alias Raja, Ashraf Ali, Parvez and Rashid alias Monu have been given the benefit of doubt.
The court said it is clear from the evidence that witness Vipin attended the briefing at the police station every day with the investigating officers, but he did not formally record the same anywhere. The court said in his cross-examination, Vipin admitted that there was a daily briefing at the police station which was attended by him as well as the IO. Yet the information regarding the involvement of the accused persons has not been formally recorded anywhere till 7th April 2020.
Wasim accused of selling pistol to Shahrukh acquitted
The court acquitted Shahrukh Pathan, accused of Delhi riots, giving benefit of doubt to Babu Wasim, accused of selling pistol. Shahrukh had fled after pointing a weapon at a policeman during the riots. The court said that there is no concrete evidence against accused Babu Wasim and the confessional statement of accused Shahrukh Pathan is not admissible under law.
According to the police, Pathan pointed the pistol with the intention of killing head constable Deepak Dahiya. Pathan went absconding after pictures of the incident went viral on social media and was arrested on March 3, 2020, from a bus stand in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh. The prosecution had said that Pathan had admitted that he had bought the pistols from Babu Wasim in December 2019.