A scene of riots in Delhi in February this year.(Express Archive)The Delhi High Court has granted bail to an accused in a murder case connected to the Delhi riots after noting the results of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report do not support the prosecution’s case and the Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) also do not establish that the accused was present on the spot at the time of the incident.
The court passed the order in a bail plea filed by Yogesh in an FIR registered at Karawal Nagar police station. The victim Aftab’s body was recovered in a highly decomposed state on March 1 and the postmortem report showed he had received two bullet injuries and 17 lacerated wounds, as per the police.
It was argued before court that two witnesses have clearly identified Yogesh and others in their statements given to the police. Yogesh, Lakhpat and Kuldeep were leading the mob and “shouting anti-Muslim slogans”, as per the prosecution. Aftab was first beaten with rod and sticks by the violent mob and then three bullets were fired at him on February 25, police told the court.
However, the court noted that three bullets recovered from the dead body of the victim, as per the FSL report, were not fired from the country-made pistols recovered from the accused persons.
“Moreover, result of 3 DVRS, as per data available on DVR no. 1 seized from MNB Modern School, 33 Futa Road, Devi Nagar, Shiv Nagar, DVR no. 2 was seized from Deepak Mittal, Near Shiv Vihar pulia retrieved. However, data available on DVR no. 3 seized from Bhajanpura Cooperative Thrift & Credit society, 33 Futa Road, Shiv Vihar, could not be retrieved,” the order reads.
Observing that the data available on DVR 3 was crucial evidence in the case as the CCTV was installed just near the place of incident, the court said DVR 1 camera was not entirely covering the requisite portion as it was installed far from the spot.
“It was observed that the angle of such a camera of Ch. no.1 was changed to the wrong side at about 08.54.51 hrs and the camera of Ch. no. 2 was changed to the wrong side at about 08.54.12 hrs to avoid capture in the CCTV footage. DVR no. 2 covering mostly the area of the counter and nearby portion,” the court said in the order.
Stating that the accused deserves bail in its view, the court in the order dated October 20 said, “He shall be released on bail forthwith on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 25,000 and a surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial Court. The petitioner shall not directly or indirectly influence any witness or tamper with the evidence.”
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