New Delhi: A Delhi court has convicted five men in a case arising from the Feb 2020 Bhajanpura riots, observing that the mob’s attack was so intense that police personnel were forced to flee a petrol pump by jumping over its boundary wall.
A mob of 100-150 people gathered outside Bhajanpura Petrol Pump on Feb 24, 2020, during protests against the CAA and NRC , according to the prosecution. The court, however, rejected the charge under Section 148 IPC, holding that liability for being armed with a deadly weapon could not be imposed merely on account of membership of an unlawful assembly. At the same time, the court held that the five accused were members of an unlawful assembly whose common object was rioting, arson, vandalism and criminal mischief, making them liable under Section 149 IPC for offences committed in furtherance of that common object.
“The ferocity of the attack was such that the police officers fled from the petrol pump by jumping over its wall,” the court observed, adding that the officers “were met with force, attacked and had to flee” as the mob pursued its common object of rioting and arson. The court also rejected the allegation that the petrol pump itself had been set ablaze, finding “very serious doubts” over the charge under Section 436 IPC. Additional sessions judge Parveen Kumar Singh noted that police personnel, who had reached the spot to pacify an unlawful assembly , were attacked with stones despite firing tear gas shells and attempting to disperse the crowd. The mob allegedly crossed a road divider, vandalised property, attacked police personnel, damaged vehicles and shops along Yamuna Vihar service road and set several vehicles on fire. Khalid allegedly used a torch to ignite vehicles, Tanveer threw burning cloth on them, Abdul Sattar pelted stones at police personnel, and Hunain was accused of setting the petrol pump on fire. It found no evidence that any of the accused was carrying a deadly weapon.