Delhi Riots: Court Acquits 5 In Murder Case, Finds 'Serious Contradictions' In Prosecution Evidence
Nupur Thapliyal
2 Jun 2026 7:09 PM IST
A Delhi Court today acquitted five men accused of murdering one Mohd. Anwar during the 2020 North-East Delhi riots, holding that the prosecution failed to establish their guilt beyond reasonable doubt due to material inconsistencies, serious contradictions in eyewitness testimonies, identification evidence and recoveries.
Additional Sessions Judge Parveen Singh of Karkardooma Courts acquitted Lakhpat, Yogesh, Lalit and two others named Kuldeep, who were facing trial for offences including murder, rioting, arson, dacoity and offences under the Arms Act.
The Delhi Police alleged that a riotous mob attacked Anwar, shot him, set his body on fire and looted and burnt the properties of his family in Shiv Vihar on February 25, 2020.
DNA examination of recovered body parts established that the remains belonged to Anwar and the Court accepted that he had died a homicidal death.
Acquitting the accused in the case, the Court noted that the case substantially rested on the testimony of complainant Saleem but his account suffered from major contradictions regarding the timing of the incident, the place of occurrence and the identification of the alleged assailants.
“….what has been culled out earlier from the testimony of PW5, visibly, these are not minor variations; these are serious departures, improvements and contradictions, which individually and cumulatively, shake the credibility of this witness and to me, there does not appear even a ring of truth in it. I accordingly find that PW5 is not a credible witness,” the judge said.
The Court further found that the testimony of a Protected Witness X did not advance the prosecution case.
It also found contradictions in the evidence relating to the alleged recovery of country-made pistols from two accused.
Holding that the said deficiencies created substantial doubt about the prosecution version, the Court concluded:
“The prosecution has failed to prove its case beyond all reasonable doubts. All the accused are entitled to benefit of doubt.”
Accordingly, all five accused were acquitted of all charges and their bail bonds were cancelled.
“In view of my aforesaid discussions, I find that the prosecution has failed to prove its case beyond all reasonable doubts. All the accused are entitled to benefit of doubt. All the accused are accordingly acquitted of all the charges framed against them,” the judge held.
