New Delhi, Sept. 14 -- A Delhi court has convicted five men of rioting and assaulting police personnel during violence at a Bhajanpura petrol pump during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, while acquitting them of charges of arson and causing hurt to witnesses.
Additional Sessions Judge Parveen Singh convicted Arif, Mohd Khalid, Abdul Sattar, Tanveer Ali and Hunain under Sections 147, 152, 186 and 353, read with Section 149 of the IPC.
The court said the prosecution proved that they were part of an unlawful assembly that pelted stones at policemen, forcing them to flee the petrol pump by scaling its wall.
The court, however, found "very serious doubts" in the prosecution's claim that the mob had set the petrol pump on fire.
It noted that the owner and an employee did not support the arson allegation and that a Delhi Fire Service record showed a fire call at 8.45 am the following day.
It acquitted the men of causing hurt, saying injury timelines did not match the mob's presence at the pump, and of violating prohibitory orders under Section 188 IPC, as publicity of the order was not proved.
Sentence will be argued separately.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.