HC grants bail to 2 in murder case during Delhi riots

New Delhi, Feb 1: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted bail to two persons arrested in connection with the murder of an octogenarian woman during the riots that broke out in the national capital in February 2020. A bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad granted bail to Arun Kumar and Ravi Kumar while their co-accused Vishal Singh was denied bail.

The FIR was registered under sec. 302--punishment for murder, 307--Attempt to murder, 396 --Dacoity with murder, 148--Rioting, armed with a deadly weapon, 149--unlawful assembly, 436--Mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house and147--Punishment for rioting.

According to police, Akbari Begum, 85, who lived with her family on Gamri Road in the Bhajanpura area of northeast Delhi, died of suffocation and asphyxiation when a mob attacked and set her house afire on February 25, 2020.

An FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by Saeed Salmani, her son."While other family members climbed to the rooftop, the elderly woman could not and died of suffocation," as per the police. Her body was recovered from the second floor of the house after the fire was extinguished by the fire department personnel. "The body was found lying on a folding bed," the police said.

"On the ground and first floors was a garment workshop. The family of the complainant was living on the second and third floors of the four-story house. The police rescued the family members from the rooftop. But the deceased couldn't be rescued," the Crime Branch had said in a statement.