HC grants bail to alleged mastermind of Prayagraj violence

Prayagraj, Jan 28 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court granted bail on Saturday to Javed Mohammad alias Javed "Pump", an alleged mastermind behind the June 2022 violence in Prayagraj that erupted after the offering of the Friday namaz.

Allowing the accused's bail plea, Justice Sameer Jain observed, "Although it appears that due to the aggression and activeness of the applicant, the people of his community gathered in large number and thereafter, a mob committed the violence, but considering the fact that the applicant does not appear to be instrumental for such violence, in my view, the applicant is entitled to be released on bail." "In the present matter, the applicant is in jail since June 10, 2022 and as many as nine similarly-placed accused persons have already been enlarged on bail," the judge further observed.

An FIR was lodged against Javed "Pump" and 13 others under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Public Property Damages Act and Explosive Substances Act at the Kareli police station on June 11, 2022, a day after the violence had broken out in the Atala locality of Prayagraj.

Appearing in the court on behalf of the applicant, senior advocate SFA Naqvi argued that his client neither participated in the violence nor was he instrumental behind it.

Naqvi said according to the FIR, more than 200 people were involved in the incident and only 14 of them, including the applicant, were named in the document and this clearly suggests that those who were well known in the locality have been implicated by police.

He further submitted that the applicant is a social worker who used to raise his voice against atrocities and only due to this reason, he was falsely implicated by police in the case. PTI COR RAJ RC