India News | Delhi Riots: Court Grants Bail to Man, Says No Witness Identified Accused in CCTV Footage

New Delhi, Nov 30 (PTI) The court has granted bail to a man in a murder case related to the north east Delhi riots, saying no witness or police was able to identify him, even in a CCTV camera footage.

The case relates to the killing of a local, Vinod Kumar, during the communal violence that broke out after clashes between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control on February 24. The riots left at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.

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Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat granted the relief to Aleem Saifi on furnishing of a bail bond of Rs 30,000 with one surety of like amount in the case of alleged murder of Kumar during riots in the Jafrabad area of north east Delhi.

The court said though the offence committed was "very serious", the role of Saifi has to be seen.

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"The applicant/accused Aleem Saifi was arrested at the pointing out and identification of co-accused Arshad. Co­-accused Arshad has identified him in the CCTV footage of Gali No 1, Chauhan Bangar (Akhade Wali Gali) near the place of the incident. In the CCTV footage, accused/alleged Aleem Saifi is allegedly seen from his back and his face is seen for a split second," it said.

"The person shown as applicant/accused by the prosecution in the CCTV footage is vehemently denied by the counsel for the accused. There is no witness, public or police who has identified the applicant as the person involved in the present case or the same person shown by the prosecution in the footage. There is only an identification by co-accused Arshad," the court said in its order passed on November 26.

The court directed Saifi not to tamper with evidence or leave Delhi without its permission.

During the hearing, advocate Abdul Gaffar, appearing for Saifi, said the complainant, Kumar's son Nitin, did not state in his FIR that he can identify any of the assailants who were rioting on the road. There were also no specific allegations against the accused of using any violent force against the complainant, he said.

The CCTV footage, allegedly showing Saifi, did not depict him and it was a case of mistaken identity as he was not the same person as shown by the prosecution in the video, Gaffar claimed.

Special Public Prosecutor Jinendra Jain, appearing for the police, opposed the bail plea saying Saifi was arrested on the basis of the statement of the co-accused, who had also identified others in the CCTV camera footage.

Nitin has stated in the FIR, that on February 24, when he was riding his bike with his father, a stone hit Kumar.

In the FIR, he further said that when they got up, around 100 to 150 people came with sticks, stones and other weapons and attacked them. The mob burnt the motorcycle and beat them up, due to which Kumar died, according to the FIR.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)