Riots: Court frames attempt to murder charge against man who pointed gun at cop

Photographs of Pathan pointing a gun at Delhi Police head constable Deepak Dahiya were widely circulated on social media soon after the incident on February 24.

A Delhi court has framed charges against Shahrukh Pathan, the man who allegedly pointed a gun at a policeman during the north-east Delhi riots in February 2020, saying the present case was not an “ordinary one”.

Shahrukh Pathan was arrested on March 3, 2020, and is currently lodged in Tihar jail. (HT)

Photographs of Pathan pointing a gun at Delhi Police head constable Deepak Dahiya were widely circulated on social media soon after the incident on February 24. He was arrested on March 3, 2020, and is currently lodged in Tihar jail.

On Tuesday, additional sessions judge Amitabh Rawat charged Pathan with attempt to murder, assault, rioting, unlawful assembly, and obstructing public servants in the discharge of duty under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Arms Act. The court also observed that it hadn’t witnessed riots of this nature since the deadly anti-Sikh riots of 1984.

The court said from the statement of the complainant Dahiya, it is quite apparent that Pathan led a group of rioters to unlawfully assembly on the 66 Foot Road on February 24, 2020, at around 2pm and, fully armed with deadly weapons, committed rioting, attempt on the life of Dahiya, obstructed a public servant in discharge of his public functions and assaulted or used criminal force on a public servant to deter the public servant from discharge of duty.

The judge said the entire incident was also captured on camera by a journalist and hence not only is there a statement from the complainant, but there also exists additional electronic evidence in the form of video footage to nail the conduct of the accused. The footage was found to be correct, continuous and un-tampered with, the court said.

The court noted that there was a prohibitory order under Section 144 CrPC, issued by the deputy commissioner of police (north-east) and there was a violation also of Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the IPC.

It said even though no injury was caused to Dahiya, that does not mean that attempt to murder is not made out.It depends on the facts of the case and, in the present case, injury is not material at all.

“..even the video shows firing by accused Shahrukh Pathan from a pistol in daylight with an aim to kill HC Deepak Dahiya. This is enough for framing the charge against Pathan under Section 307 IPC,” the court said.

The court also framed charges against Shamim and Abdul Shehzad, both co-accused, for being part of a mob, allegedly led by Pathan, saying they were rioting at the time of the gunpointing incident. It noted that both the accused have been identified through CCTV footage and by witnesses.

The court also charged another accused, Ishtiyak Malik, saying even if there was no footage of him rioting, he cannot be absolved of the crime.

The judge said Malik was in constant touch with Pathan, as evidenced by Malik’s call records, and Malik’s mobile phone location was the same as that of Pathan at the time of the incident.

“This factum of the location or the presence of the accused Ishtiyak Malik @ Guddu at the place of riots where weapons are being brandished, and firing done at head constable Deepak Dahiya and others by accused Shahrukh Pathan with whom he was in continuous touch and shared the location of riots, is enough for framing charges against him, “ the court said.

Additionally, the bench charged one Kaleem Ahmed for harbouring Pathan in Kairana, Uttar Pradesh, where he was hiding, following the incident.

Pathan, through his counsel, had earlier argued that he only intended to scare the policeman and not kill him.

Communal clashes broke out in north-east Delhi in February 2020 after a tense standoff between supporters of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and its critics went out of control, leaving at least 53 people dead and over 700 injured.