Flagging discrepancies in the statements of two eyewitnesses, a Delhi court recently acquitted two men – Firoz Khan and Mohammed Anwar – accused of rioting and unlawful assembly during the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots.
The case pertains to a complaint by one Surender Kumar Bansal whose shop ‘Shree Balaji Rolling Shutters’ was vandalised and looted by a mob. Further, two of his motorcycles were set ablaze and he suffered a total loss of approximately Rs 6 lakh.
Acquitting the accused, Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala said, “…the evidence produced by prosecution though show that riotous incident had taken place on 24.02.2020, but there is no evidence to show that either of accused persons, was part of the responsible mob.”
The court held that there were discrepancies in the statements of the complainant Bansal and Head Constable Vikas. While Vikas had said that the incident took place at 2 pm, Bansal had said that he was in his shop till 6 pm and till then the shop had neither been vandalised nor set ablaze.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here .