2020 Delhi riots: Court fines six accused for false claim

New Delhi, Feb 26 (SocialNews.XYZ) A court here, in a case related to 2020 Delhi riots, has imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each on six accused persons for a false statement related to their acknowledgment of the supply of copies of pen drives along with the charge sheet.

Hearing the case, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Arun Kumar Garg, observed, "Copy of acknowledgment regarding supply of a copy of CCTV footage along with a copy of charge sheet has been placed on record by the Investigating Officer (IO) qua all the accused. Besides, it is submitted by him that he had supplied the fresh pen drives to the accused on 17 February 2022 also against the proper acknowledgment also."

However, noting the false statement of the accused, who had informed the court that the IO has not supplied them the copies, the judge asked the accused persons--Firoz Khan, Iqbal, Zakhir, Shakir, Sirajuddin, and Anas to deposit the fine by the next hearing.

The IO was asked to furnish the acknowledgment of the supply of copies within two days, failing which, he shall deposit an adjournment cost of Rs. 10,000 in the court.

As many as 1,356 persons accused in the infamous northeast Delhi riots are still in judicial custody and the investigation is still underway in several cases, according to Delhi police.

The police registered over 700 cases in the riots, of which around 62 cases, in which murders happened, are being investigated by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police while one case of larger conspiracy is being investigated by the Special cell.

"The rest of the cases are being probed by local police stations," according to Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana.

The riots broke out in northeast Delhi in February 2020 after clashes between anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and pro-CAA protesters took a violent turn. The mayhem, which coincided with then US President Donald Trump's maiden trip to India, saw over 50 people lose their lives.

Source: IANS