A Delhi court has acquitted 12 Hindu youth of charges of criminal conspiracy against them in a case related to the February 2020 anti-Muslim pogrom in the national capital.
Many investigate reports and Delhi Police had alleged that a WhatsApp group named “Kattar Hindu Ekta” had been formed during violence in the city to plan the killings of Muslims and the vandalism of their properties.
The court held that the conversations on the WhatsApp group did not indicate that it had been formed to commit any illegal act.
The court passed the order on March 15, and the order was made available on Thursday, Live Law reported.
The accused are Lokesh Solanki, Pankaj Sharma, Sumit Chaudhary, Ankit Chaudhary, Prince, Rishabh Chaudhary, Jatin Sharma, Vivek Panchal, Himanshu Thakur, Sahil, Sandeep and Tinku Arora.
They have been named as accused persons in the murder of five Muslims named Aas Mohammad, Mursaleen, Mushraff, Hashim Ali and Amir Khan.
While the court acquitted the 12 persons from the allegations of conspiracy, it framed other charges against them, including those of murder.
“Careful analysis of these chats would reveal that the members were keeping themselves ready for any attack from other communities,” Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhat said.
Bhat added that at best, the chats showed that the members were preparing to defend themselves “against an onslaught to be launched against them.”
Judge Bhatt referred to a message by a member of the group named Lokesh Solanki, in which he reportedly boasted of having killed two Muslims and having thrown their bodies into a drain.
“…But he neither asks the other members also to do the same nor has any other member shown his willingness to indulge in such horrendous act,” Judge Bhat said.
“Hindu Ekta” group and RSS role
In excerpts of chats of the WhatsApp group by Hindutva rioters “Kattar Hindut Ekta”, filed in a supplementary chargesheet before a Delhi court against nine accused of killing a Muslim, one of the members in 2020 October had claimed that Hindu militant organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) members had come to support them.
In the chat extract, police affixed a message of a Hindu rioter named Binni, from February 25 2020, which read: “Bhai RSS ke log agaye hai yahan support mein (Brother, RSS people have come here in support).”
In charegsheet, Delhi Police had alleged that the members “killed nine innocent Muslims persons including Hashim Ali and his brother Aamir Khan.”
Police had said in the supplementary charge sheet that the WhatsApp group promoted enmity between different groups on the ground of religion and acted in a way which was prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony.
According to the chargesheet, Whatsapp group members used anti-Muslim slurs and talked about vandalising madrasas, mosques, and killing of Muslims.
“We will burn everything of theirs (Muslims) like we burned the madrasa today” and “Do not leave them (Muslims), kill them” are some of the messages sent by the group members, according to the chargesheet.
“As per the chat of Whatsapp group, the accused persons… conspired to teach Muslims a lesson for attacking the Hindus. Equipped themselves with lathis. danda, sticks, swords, firearms etc and killed nine innocent Muslims persons including Hashim Ali and his brother Aamir Khan. It is prima facie revealed that there was a well hatched conspiracy amongst the accused persons,” it read.
Police further said in the chargesheet: “Same is also evident from the fact that in order to take revenge from Muslims some youths of that area who failed to perceive the bottomless stupidity of the propaganda, they as saviours of their community created a Whatsapp group. The group members lost their individuality and started working with mob mind. ‘Jai Sri Ram’ and ‘Har Har Mahadev’ which are the sacred slogans and are attached to the victorious yelling, deaden their mind and paralyzed their creative nature. They planned the manner of committing offence of rioting, murder and other offences… “
According to the police, “During the investigation and from the report of retrieving data of seized mobile phones revealed that the above mentioned report/result of Whatsapp group ‘Kattar Hindu Ekta’, group, it is also clear that there are averments in respect of promoting enmity between different groups on the ground of religion and acting in a way that are prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony.”
The Delhi pogrom is widely acknowledged to have been sparked by incendiary comments made by Kapil Mishra, a BJP leader, about Muslims peacefully protesting against ‘anti-Muslim and unconstitutional’ citizenship law. Video evidence and witness accounts pointed to police allowing Hindu mobs to roam the streets freely to target the Muslim community.
While no action has been taken against Kapil Mishra and other BJP politicians to date, the arrests of Muslim students and activists who were active in anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests are being seen by rights activists and opposition leaders as part of the Delhi police’s witchhunt of anti-CAA activists.
This article first appeared on maktoobmedia.com
