Saharanpur court orders release of eight protesters due to lack of evidence

Saharanpur Court Image Courtesy: msn.com

A local court in Saharanpur has ordered the release of eight persons, who were arrested for engaging in violence on June 10, during a protest against the remarks made by Nupur Sharma about Prophet Mohammed. The court ordered their release after police found no evidence against them, reported the Indian Express.

The CCTV footage submitted by the families of the accused revealed that they were not present at the site of violence on June 10. As a result, the police approached the court and submitted that they have no evidence against them.

Additional Superintendent of Police (Saharanpur) Rajesh Kumar reportedly stated, “We asked the investigating officer (IO) of the case to verify the claims made by the families of the eight accused. The IO examined the videos and photographs of the violence and found they were not present in any of them. We then moved an application in court under the section 169 of the CrPC (seeks release of accused when evidence is deficient). The court then ordered their release.”

Station House Officer (City Kotwali) Ashok Solanki reportedly stated, “During probe, it was found they (the eight accused) were not present at the spot when the violence took place. Since their innocence was proved, we requested the court on Saturday to release them.”

The mother of one of the eight accused persons (19 year old- Mohammad Ali) told the Indian Express, “After offering prayers at a local mosque, my son went to his sister’s house at Nadeem colony, which is far from the spot where the violence took place. To prove my claim, I submitted footage of CCTV cameras installed at places where Ali was present when the protests took place. The CCTV footage was collected from the houses of residents of the area. My son got released from jail this morning.” She reportedly claimed that her son was thrashed by a policeman with a stick inside a police station. She further added, “My son received fractures in his hand as a result of it.”

It has been reported that the police have arrested 85 people in Saharanpur so far, including the eight persons who are now released, and filed three FIRS in connection with the June 10 violence.