Delhi court acquits four in attempt to murder case as key witnesses turn hostile

New Delhi, Mar 5 (PTI) A Delhi court has acquitted four men accused of attempting to murder a contractor and his guards during an alleged robbery bid near the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway in 2023, noting that the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt as key witnesses turned hostile.

Additional Sessions Judge Sheetal Chaudhary Pradhan acquitted Arvind Kumar, Karan Singh, Khurram and Mohammad Noor Jamal, who were charged under sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting while armed with a deadly weapon), 149 (vicarious liability in an unlawful assembly), 307 (attempt to murder), 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt), 323 (voluntarily causing simple hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Complainant Mohammad Imran alleged that on the intervening night of October 20-21, 2023, the accused and their associates attacked him and his guards with iron rods and sticks after being confronted over an alleged theft attempt at a sewer construction site near Khizrabad.

In its judgment dated February 26, the court observed that all the material witnesses, including the complainant and injured persons, did not support the prosecution’s case on crucial aspects.

The court noted that the complainant and injured witnesses who were working as guards, namely, Iqbal, Shahzad and Rahis were declared hostile and failed to consistently identify the accused or attribute specific roles to them.

As for the remaining witnesses who were not injured, the court noted, “Remaining witnesses were formal in nature and were the police officials who had conducted investigation in this case. Their testimony as such was not sufficient to convict the accused persons with the offences with which they were charged. Their testimony only talked about the manner in which they had done the investigation".

The complainant had repeatedly mentioned a guard named Raj Kumar who allegedly intimated him about the theft and was a crucial eyewitness to the entire incident. However, the court noted he was never examined by the prosecution.

The prosecution witnesses alleged several public persons had gathered at the time of the incident hearing the commotion, however, the court noted, “The prosecution did not make any endeavour to join public persons during the investigation of the present matter. In the light of absence of veracity of testimonies of public witnesses, their testimony became inconsequential. It did not help the cause of prosecution.” The defence counsel had earlier argued that the accused persons were falsely implicated in the case. He stated there are several contradictions in the testimony of all witnesses and none of the witnesses have supported the story of prosecution, causing the court to declare them hostile. He had also argued that the accused persons had not been identified and their exact role had not been narrated by any of the witnesses. PTI MDB MDB MNK MNK