A Delhi court has acquitted a man accused of arson and looting during the February 2020 riots in the National Capital, PTI reported on Sunday.
Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala acquitted a man named Sandeep Kumar, who was accused of being part of mob that looted a home and set ablaze household items in the Shiv Vihar locality on February 25, 2020.
The court held that although prosecution established that the incident of vandalism took place, it could not prove beyond reasonable doubt that a mob was responsible for it, or that Kumar was part of such a mob.
The judge said that the complainant had not witnessed the incident, and there were discrepancies in the testimonies of two police witnesses. He noted that while one of the police officials had recorded a statement identifying Kumar on February 29, the other one said that he saw the accused man only on August 1, 2020.
On this basis, the court held that the testimonies of the police witnesses were not reliable.
Clashes had broken out between supporters of the Citizenship Amendment Act and those opposing it in February 2020 in northeastern Delhi, killing at least 53 persons and injuring hundreds. Most of those killed in the violence were Muslims.
On several occasions in the past few months, judge Pramachala has criticised the manner in which the police has handled cases pertaining to the riots.
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