‘No evidence’: Bail for 4 Tahir ‘associates’ in Delhi riots case

NEW DELHI: The high court on Tuesday granted bail to former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain’s four alleged associates accused of looting, burning vehicles and rioting during last year’s communal violence that had rocked northeast Delhi and claimed over 50 lives.
Noting that there were no CCTV footage, video clip or photo linking them to the rioting, the HC ruled that the accused, arrested in March 2020, couldn’t be made to languish in jail any more and the allegations could be tested during their trial.“Moreover, nothing incriminating had been recovered from them. The chargesheet has been filed and trial is on,” Justice Suresh Kait said.
‘None of 4 cops made PCR call in riot case’
The court directed that the accused — Liyakat Ali, Arshad Qayyum, Gulfam and Irshad Ahmad — be released on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 20,000 each with sureties of the like amount while imposing usual conditions.
It was noted that the prosecution had examined four police officers, who claimed to be eyewitnesses to the incident. However, none of them had made a call to the PCR or made a daily diary entry in this regard. “Besides, it is not disputed that the call detail records of the prime accused, Tahir Hussain, did not match with that of the petitioners,” added the court.
While Ali, Qayyum and Gulfam were arrested on March 23, 2020, Ahmad was taken into custody on March 18 for their alleged roles in the riots that occurred in the afternoon on February 24 in Chand Bagh, Khajuri Khas.
An FIR was lodged on a man’s complaint saying that his brother’s daughter’s marriage had been fixed on February 25, 2020. A day prior to the function, food was being prepared on the first floor of Bharat Vatika in Karawal Nagar. A mob present on the roof of Hussain’s house and around the area started pelting stones and petrol bombs on passersby. A few from the mob broke open the shutter of the parking lot of Bharat Vatika and robbed the people there, the complainant alleged.
The mob also allegedly burnt a parked vehicle and damaged the motorcycle of the complainant. The marriage ceremony preparations were destroyed. The complainant blamed the accused men and Hussain, who is in judicial custody, for their alleged role in the riots.