New Delhi, Jul 28 (IANS): A Delhi court on Tuesday dismissed the bail application of a man accused of injuring three men, including a lawyer, during the violence in the city's northeast area, on the grounds that he was seen on CCTV footage as a part of an unlawful assembly during the riots.
While junking the bail application of accused Mohammad Mukarram, Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav noted that it is "prima facie clear" that he was part of unlawful assembly which was responsible for gunshot injuries to the three injured persons -- Advocate Bhave Gautam, Lokender and Shyam.
"It is a matter of record that the injured persons are residents of the same locality and if released on bail at this stage, the possibility of the applicant threatening them cannot be ruled out," the court stated.
Judge Yadav further said that the accused has also been identified by an injured person as well as a constable and was clearly seen in the CCTV footage, which makes it amply clear that the applicant was present in the unlawful assembly.
"In the CCTV footage, which is of 2 hours, 45 minutes, 49 seconds, it is clearly apparent that the co-accused and other persons in the riotous mob were armed with deadly weapons like pistols, dandas, sticks and petrol bombs. The common object of this kind of riotous mob can be easily inferred therefrom," the court added.
Mukarram's counsel, Advocate Abdul Shamim Khan, argued that his client had carried the stick only for his own protection and not for taking part in the rioting and the injuries of three men are minor.
Seeking dismissal of the application, Special Public Prosecutor Saleem Ahmed contended that the accused was armed with stones, sticks, petrol bombs, acid bottles and indulged in vandalism, chanting of slogans against a particular community, stone pelting, and putting on fire the shops and houses of a particular community.
Besides this, in another case, the same court allowed the bail application of another Delhi riots accused Rashid Saifi after his counsel contended that he was not seen in any CCTV footage or even named in the FIR.