2020 Delhi riots: Court grants bail to Umar Khalid

Team Udayavani, Apr 15, 2021, 8:10 PM IST

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday granted bail to former JNU student Umar Khalid in a case related to the communal violence in northeast Delhi in February last year saying he was not physically present at the scene of the crime on the date of the incident.

“The applicant (Khalid) is not visible in any CCTV footage/viral video(s) pertaining to the scene of crime on the date of incident. There is no identification of the applicant either through independent public witness or any police witness of he being present at the scene of crime on the date of incident,” Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav noted in the order.

The court further said that even the CDR location of the mobile phone of applicant was not found at the scene of crime on the date of incident.

The applicant has merely been roped in the matter on basis of his own disclosure statement, fourth disclosure statement of co-accused Tahir Hussain and disclosure statement of co-accused Khalid Saifi, it said, adding that no recovery of any sort has been effected from the applicant pursuant to his disclosure statement.

The court rejected prosecution”s argument that Khalid had been in regular contact/touch with co-accused Tahir Hussain and Khalid Saifi over mobile phone and said that “prima facie that does not in any way go on to establish the criminal conspiracy alleged against the applicant in the matter.”

The FIR in the present case was registered on the statement of Constable Sangram Singh, where he stated that on February 24, 2020 at about 2 PM, a large crowd gathered on the road in a locality in the northeast Delhi and started pelting stones in which he and other police officials got injured as they were thrashed by the mob.

They set the vehicles in a parking area nearby on fire, including his motorcycle of the complainant was also burnt by the rioters, he said said.

Though Khalid has been granted bail in this case, he will remain in jail as the former JNU student leader is also accused in some other cases including one related to the criminal conspiracy lodged under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.