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New Delhi [India], March 24 (ANI): Delhi’s Tis Hazari court has acquitted three accused persons of charges in an attempted murder case, giving them the benefit of the doubt. This case pertains to the alleged firing at a person, injuring him during the construction of a house in the Jama Masjid area.
While acquitting the accused, the court noted that all main prosecution witnesses, including the eyewitness who had sustained a gunshot injury, turned hostile from their initial statements. An FIR was lodged at Police Station Jama Masjid in 2019.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Ekta Gauba Mann acquitted Rizwan, Naushad alias Pahalwan, and Mohd Iqbal Saifi of all charges leveled against them.
The court stated, “In view of the fact that the most crucial witness, namely Ata-Ur-Rehman—eyewitness, only victim, and injured—has turned fully hostile and not supported the prosecution case.”
“This fact erodes the credibility of the entire prosecution case and throws doubt on the prosecution story. No public person has been made a witness to the alleged recovery of a weapon. This fact further throws doubt on the prosecution story,” the judge added.
The eyewitnesses, namely Mohd Zakir and Mohd Rafiq, also turned fully hostile and did not support the prosecution case, the court noted.
The court observed that even the public witnesses, Nadeem Khan and Danish, turned fully hostile and did not support the prosecution case.
“Thus, the prosecution has miserably failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt,” ASJ Mann stated in the judgment passed on March 21.
On October 10, 2023, the court charged all three accused with offences punishable under Sections 307, 506, and 34 of the IPC. Additionally, accused Mohd Iqbal Saifi was charged under Section 25 of the Arms Act, to which they all pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.
According to the prosecution, the injured, Ata-Ur-Rehman, stated that on February 21, 2018, he, along with Mohd Rafiq and Mohd Zakir, was carrying bricks at the behest of their employer to Gali Jagat Wali, Urdu Bazar, where the house of Makkhi was under construction.
He further stated that at around 8:00 AM, he was handing bricks to Rafiq and Zakir, who were taking them inside the house.
Ata-Ur-Rehman stated that at approximately 8:15 AM, three boys approached from the side of Kala Mahal, carrying pistols in their pockets. They took out their pistols and displayed them to everyone. Out of the three, two accused came near him and threatened that Makkhi’s house would neither be constructed nor any construction material unloaded at the site. They further threatened to kill Makkhi’s servant first.
It was alleged that one of the accused, with the intent to kill Ata-Ur-Rehman, fired a shot at him. Ata-Ur-Rehman stated that he attempted to save himself, but a bullet hit his left thigh, passed through, and got lodged in his other leg. (ANI)
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