Delhi Riots Case: Court Dismisses Bail Plea of Man in Dilbar Negi Murder Case

New Delhi, August 19: A Delhi court has dismissed a bail application of a man in the case of alleged murder of Dilbar Negi, whose charred body was found in the godown of a shop during the communal violence in northeast Delhi in February.

Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav dismissed the bail application of Mohd Tahir on the ground that releasing him at this stage may hamper the ongoing investigation. Also Read | Sushant Singh Rajput Death Case: CBI Team Need to Seek Exemption From Quarantine if Plan to Stay in Mumbai For More Than 7 Days, Says BMC Chief.

The court said it was amply clear from the statement of prosecution witness Amit Pal that Tahir was present in the unlawful assembly in Gokulpuri area, whose object can be deciphered from the kind of weapons they were carrying  and  from  the  acts  of arsoning, looting, vandalism and  torching.

"It is, however, prima facie clear  that the applicant (Tahir) was part of unlawful assembly which was responsible for vandalizing and torching the properties of a particular community," the court said in its order passed on August 18. Also Read | Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl Projects the Armed Forces in a Bad Light, 'It Never Happens the Way It Has Been Shown', Says Ex-Navy Officer Sandhya Suri.

It further said that it was prima facie apparent from the call detail location of Tahir that he was present at the spot of the incident.   "Considering the gravity of offence in the matter coupled with the fact that the riots at the scene of crime were really horrific; wherein, loss of innocent lives as well as damage to the property of general public was enormous; the further investigation in the matter is on and a number of suspects who participated in the riots at the scene of crime have to be arrested and the release of applicant (Tahir) at this stage may hamper the further investigation," the court said.

During the hearing, counsel for Tahir said his presence was natural at the scene of the incident as his brother has a hardware shop there. His lawyer further claimed that the only piece of evidence against Tahir was the statement of prosecution witness Amit Pal but he has not levelled allegation of murder of Negi against Tahir.

Special Public Prosecutor Manoj Chaudhary opposed the bail application saying Tahir has been identified to be one of the rioters who had actively participated in vandalising, torching and arsoning of the houses and shops of a particular community in the area.

According to the charge sheet, Negi was allegedly burnt alive on the intervening night of February 24-25, when a mob of rioters set fire to a sweet shop where he worked. His charred body was recovered on February 26.

A mob of Muslim community came from Brijpuri Pulia side in northeast Delhi and started rioting, targeting properties of Hindus and continued torching them till late night on February 24, the charge sheet said.

One of the properties torched by the mob was a shop named Anil Sweets from where the police had recovered the charred body of Negi on February 26, it said.

Negi had gone to the godown of the shop for having lunch and taking rest, the police said. Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)