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New Delhi, A court here on Tuesday acquitted five persons arrested in connection with the murder of a man whose charred body was recovered from Shiv Vihar during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, saying that key eyewitness accounts were riddled with contradictions.
Additional Sessions Judge Parveen Singh was hearing the case against Lakhpat, Kuldeep , Yogesh, Lalit and Kuldeep , who were facing trial under the charges of murder, rioting, arson and dacoity, in connection with the death of Mohammad Anwar during the February 2020 riots.
In an order, the judge said, “I find that the prosecution has failed to prove its case beyond all reasonable doubts. All the accused are entitled to the benefit of doubt. All the accused are accordingly acquitted of all the charges framed against them”.
According to the prosecution, a mob attacked Anwar and his brother Saleem’s properties in Shiv Vihar on February 25, 2020, looted household articles, set vehicles and houses on fire and shot Anwar before burning his body.
During the investigation, the police recovered a human leg and other remains, which were identified as Anwar’s through DNA analysis.
The court held that while the prosecution had established that the recovered body parts belonged to Anwar and that his death was homicidal in nature, it failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused were responsible for the killing.
“All the accused are residents of Shiv Vihar, Karawal Nagar and, therefore, their locations being found in the area of Shiv Vihar, Karawal Nagar, cannot be said to be an incriminating circumstance to establish their guilt,” the court said.
The judge found the testimony of complainant Saleem, the main prosecution witness, unreliable, noting significant inconsistencies regarding the timing of the incident, identification of the assailants and his ability to witness the occurrence.
“In my considered opinion these, collectively, there are serious contradictions which considerably dent the claim of the prosecution that these recoveries were effected at the instance of the accused,” the court said.
The court observed that these were not minor discrepancies but “serious departures, improvements and contradictions” that undermined Saleem’s credibility.
The court further held that call detail records merely placed the accused in the broader Shiv Vihar area, where they resided, and could not establish their presence at the crime scene.
It also found material contradictions in the prosecution’s evidence regarding the alleged recovery of country-made pistols from two of the accused.
The court then acquitted all the accused of all the charges framed against them.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
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