Turkman Gate violence: Delhi court hears bail pleas of 3 accused in stone-pelting case

A Delhi court on Tuesday heard bail arguments of three accused in the stone-pelting incident during a demolition exercise near Faiz-e-Elahi mosque in Turkman Gate in early January.

Additional Sessions Judge Bhupinder Singh was hearing the arguments pertaining to the bail applications filed by three accused — Mohammed Areeb, Mohammad Naved and Mohammad Athar.

Appearing for the Delhi Police, Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) Atul Shrivastava argued that Section 163 (prohibiting unlawful assemblies) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) was imposed at the site of the incident on the intervening night of January 6 and 7, yet the accused joined the unlawful gathering of more than a 100 people at the site having full knowledge of the restrictions and the demolition being carried out.

They attacked the police personnel on duty with stones targeting their heads and vital parts of their body, which consequently attracted the offence of Section 109 (attempt to murder) under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Shrivastava said.

The defence counsel for one of the accused, Areeb, said he was at his workplace around 1.15 am, according to the CCTV footage. The next captured footage showed him outside his house at 3 am. Due to the proximity of both these sites to the scene of crime, they said it was natural for him to be present in the area.

The defence counsel rebutted accusations of content inciting violence in Areeb’s mobile phone. He said there was simply some content in tbe Urdu language which Areeb had circulated, making the prosecution assume that he was inciting violence. But it was nothing more than a mere presumption and had no connection to the clash at the demolition site, he also said.

However, the APP quipped that Areeb had uploaded a video of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) officials demolishing the site onto a WhatsApp group to provoke its members.

The defence counsel also said there was no specific CCTV footage or photos of Areeb engaging in stonepelting, which raises doubts about being charged under section 109 BNS.

The defence counsel for the accused, Athar, also pleaded that there is no evidence of his active participation and no CCTV footage that places him on site at the time of the incident.

The court will continue to hear the rest of the arguments on February 5. The court has directed the APP to file a detailed reply, to which the defence counsels will file a rebuttal by the time of the next hearing.

Twenty accused have been arrested to date in connection with the violence near Turkman Gate.

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On January 24, a separate sessions court granted bail to accused Ubedullah after the first bail order granted on January 20 was set aside and remanded back to the sessions court by the Delhi High Court. On January 14, a separate magisterial court had denied bail to five accused.

The case pertains to violence during an anti-encroachment drive near the mosque in the Ramlila Maidan area on the intervening night of January 6 and 7.

The police said rumours were spread on social media that the mosque opposite Turkman Gate was being demolished, prompting people to gather at the spot.

They said around 150-200 people hurled stones and glass bottles at the police and MCD personnel, injuring six policemen, including the area’s station house officer.