Northeast Delhi violence: Bail denied to accused seen with 'foldable rod' in CCTV footage

By Sushil Batra
New Delhi [India], Aug 16 : A special court at Karkardooma Courts dismissed a bail plea of an accused as he was clearly visible in CCTV footages with a "foldable rod" in his hand during violence in northeast Delhi in February this year.
The court observed it is prima facie apparent that there is no justification of the accused to be at the spot in the wee hours of February 25, 2020, when Section 144 CrPC (which prohibits assembly of four or more people in an area) was in force.
"It is also apparent that there were two rival groups who were involved in communal rioting. The accused is clearly seen with a 'foldable rod' in his hand. Therefore, at this stage it cannot be said with certainty that the applicant did not have a common object with the other persons of unlawful assembly," it said.
While dismissing the bail application of one of the accused Surender Soni alias Shyam, Additional Session Judge Vinod Yadav said, "Although the chargesheet in the matter has been filed but two main accused persons namely Shiva and Nitin have been absconding. In my considered opinion, in case the applicant is released on bail at this stage, then he can hamper the further investigation in the matter. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case in totality, I do not find it to be a fit case for grant of bail. The bail application is accordingly dismissed."
"....From the evidence of a number of witnesses recorded in the matter, it is prima facie apparent that the 'riotous mob' armed with "lethal weapons" had engaged in vandalism, looting, pelting stones, torching the houses/shops of people belonging to other community and firing at them from a pistol," the court noted.
Advocate Ravi Drall, counsel for the applicant argued that the incident in this matter took place on February 25 at about 3 AM but the FIR was recorded on March 7, 2020, so there is a delay of about 12 days.
"The applicant was not carrying any weapon. The CCTV footage shows that the applicant was chased by the 'riotous mob' from other communities," Drall said.
"The investigation in the matter is complete. The applicant is no more required for custodial interrogation and no useful purpose is going to be served by keeping him in detention," he said.
Advocate Saleem Ahmed, Special Public Prosecutor while opposing the bail plea, argued that 10 empty cartridges were recovered from the spot, the CCTV footage of was obtained and analysed during the course of the investigation.
"In the CCTV footage, the applicant was clearly seen with a foldable stick in his hand and he was also seen giving/handing over his face-mask to another co-accused person namely Shiva, who was captured firing bullets with his pistol. The applicant was inciting the mob for rioting," he said.
"The applicant was arrested. During interrogation, he revealed the names of two co-accused persons namely Shiva and Nitin, who were also part of the 'riotous mob' on the date of the incident," he added.
Earlier five bail applications were dismissed by the learned predecessor of this Court by reasoned orders, argued by Advocate Ahmed.