A Delhi court has denied bail to three men accused of murdering people during the Northeast Delhi riots by coordinating on a WhatsApp group called ‘Kattar Hindu Ekta’.
Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav dismissed the bail applications of Vivek Panchal, Jatin Sharma and Rishabh Chaudhary, noting that an eyewitness account was corroborated with the post-mortem report of the deceased.
The lawyers for the accused had argued that there was no CCTV footage of the incident.
ASJ Yadav said it is “relevant to note here that dreary days of 24.02.2020 and 25.02.2020 saw parts of Northeast Delhi gripped by a communal frenzy, reminiscent of carnage during the days of Partition. The rioters had broken down virtually every CCTV in the vicinity and had damaged the DVRs… and as such, it is quite possible that on this account, no CCTV footage is available in the matter.”
The court also noted that six persons were absconding in the case and were being traced by the investigation agency.
The court held that charges have still not been framed, and the statements of witnesses are yet to be recorded.
“The nature of allegations against the applicants is very serious. The public witness(es) in the matter are residents of the same locality and the possibility of applicant(s) threatening or intimidating them, if released on bail at this stage, cannot be ruled out,” the court said.
This article first appeared on indianexpress.com