Denying bail to eight of the accused arrested for the Jahangirpuri communal violence last month, a local court in Rohini has asked the Delhi police to fix accountability on local officials, who, it said, instead of stopping an illegal Hanuman Jayanti procession, marched alongside it which later led to "riots" in the area.
The court of Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Gagandeep Singh in Rohini was hearing the bail applications of the eight accused — Imteyaz, Noor Alam, Sheikh Hamid, Ahmad Ali, Sheikh Hamid, S.K. Sahahada, Sheikh Zakir and Ahir — all of whom argued that they were from the labour class and sole bread earners in their families and that they had been falsely implicated in the case.
The prosecution, represented by Chief Public Prosecutor Maqsood Ahmed, argued that the accused were arrested on April 17 based on eyewitness statements and identification through CCTV footage. They added that "other witnesses are being motivated to come forward to give their version, but they are not coming forward as the accused/applicant and other culprits are known criminals in the area".
