NEW DELHI: A court has framed charges of rioting and other offences against three men for allegedly setting a mosque on fire during the northeast Delhi riots, noting that the delay in recording the statements of two witnesses couldn’t be held fatal to the prosecution case at the stage of deciding charges.
Additional sessions judge Virender Bhat framed charges of rioting, unlawful assembly and arson against Deepak, Prince and Shiv for allegedly vandalising and setting the Janati mosque on fire on February 24, 2020 in Gokalpuri.
“No doubt, the statements of these two witnesses have been recorded on September 5, 2021, but they have clearly mentioned that they did not disclose the incident to police on account of fear and it is when police reached their shop in Ganga Vihar for making inquiries regarding their complaint in (another) case that they garnered courage to make a statement in this case,” the court said on February 11.
It also noted that constables Raksh and Vipin stated that when they reached Ganga Vihar along with the investigating officer on March 9, 2020, head constable Mahesh had told them that these three rioters, along with two associates, who allegedly committed vandalisation and arson in the mosque, were present in the A block park. Mahesh had identified all of them in a CCTV footage given to him by a secret informer, the cops said.
Police arrested the accused after this, and “therefore, it cannot be said the arrest of the accused on March 9, 2020 was without any evidence”, the court pointed out. “The evidence was there in the shape of video footage... though the CD containing it was seized by the investigating officer on the next day,” it added.
The counsel for the accused had argued that the initial chargesheet was filed without any evidence against them and two of the witnesses were planted later.
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