New Delhi: A Delhi court Wednesday dismissed bail applications of three persons, including the brother of suspended AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain, in a case related to communal violence in north east Delhi in February. The Delhi court said their body posture in video footage appeared to be quite aggressive giving a clear impression that they actively participated in the riots.
Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav rejected the bail application of Hussain’s brother Shah Alam, Mohd Abir and Mohd Shadab in the case of rioting in Khajuri Khas area.
The court said there was clear identification of the three accused through public witnesses, who have categorically stated in their statements that they were allegedly present at the rooftop of the house belonging to principal accused Hussain on the day of the incident.
It further said the witnesses have alleged that they were not only active members of the riotous mob, but were also instrumental in instigating other members of the unlawful assembly by inciting their religious feelings. It is a matter of record that the investigating agency had collected seven videos related to the house of principal accused Tahir Hussain. The applicants (Abir, Shadab and Alam) are clearly seen in the said video(s) roaming on the rooftop of the house of principal accused Tahir Hussain on the day of incident, and their body posture appears to be ‘quite aggressive’, thus giving a clear impression that they were not only member of the riotous group, but also took active participation in the riots, it said.
The court said the call detail record location of the three persons have also been found to be near the scene of crime at the time of the incident and no plausible explanation in this regard has come from them.
The court had earlier dismissed the bail plea of Hussain in the case.
During the hearing, the counsel for the three accused said they have been falsely claimed to be co-conspirators of Hussain and the complainant had not specifically named any of them in his complaint.
Special Public Prosecutor Manoj Chaudhary, appearing for the police, opposed the bail pleas saying since all the three accused were allegedly known to Hussain, meeting of minds took place very quickly.
Chaudhary claimed that since the victims and the witnesses in the matter were residents of the same locality as the accused, they can harm them or threaten them and again spoil the harmony between the two communities if granted bail.
Communal violence had broken out in northeast Delhi February 24 after clashes between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control, leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.
