Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Sunday granted sanction for the prosecution of six persons accused in the case of the North East Delhi communal riots of 2020, in which a man died due to a gunshot injury. During the probe, it was found that a deep-rooted conspiracy was hatched under the garb of democratically opposing the Citizenship Amendment Bill, which led to the riots in the North-East District of Delhi.
The case relates to the death of a 25-year-old man named Shahid, who was a resident of Gali No. 17, New Mustafabad, due to a gunshot injury on February 24, 2020.
Vinai Saxena granted prosecution sanction in the case FIR No 84/2020 lodged on March 1, 2020, at police station Dayal Pur, Delhi, against Mohd Firoz, Chand Mohd, Rais Khan, Md Junaid, Irshad, and Akil Ahmed for the commission of offences punishable under sections 153 A and 505 of the Indian Penal Code.
Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) penalises "promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony". This is punishable with imprisonment up to three years, a fine, or both.
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Section 505 (1), under which the sanction for prosecution has been sought, deals with cases of Statements conducing to public mischief -- Whoever makes, publishes, or circulates any statement, rumour or report, "with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or against the public tranquillity; or with intent to incite, or which is likely to incite, any class or community of persons to commit any offence against any other class or community, shall be punished with imprisonment, which may extend to 6[three years], or with fine, or with both.
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In this case, six of the arrested accused disclosed that they were involved in the riots. They had entered forcefully the building of Saptarishi Ispat and Alloys Pvt. Ltd. and looted the office of the firm with other rioters.
The victim sustained a gunshot injury on the rooftop of the company located at the service road near 25 Foota Chand Bagh, main Wazirabad Road, Delhi, near Chand Bagh Mazar, during the incident of a communal riot that took place on February 24, 2020.
The crime branch was investigating the case, which examined the witnesses and analyzed the evidence collected, including the viral video on social media of a TV Channel.
The Lieutenant Governor has granted the sanction for prosecution under Section 196 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973. The FIR No. 84/2020 was lodged under Sections 144, 145, 147, 148, 149, 153A, 302, 395, 397, 452, 454,505, 506, 188, and 120B of the IPC.
(With input from agencies)