Three decades later, man acquitted in 1993 Mumbai riots case

Mumbai, Dec 11 (PTI) A court has acquitted a 53-year-old man in a 1993 Mumbai riots case, saying that the prosecution failed to prove his participation in violence.

Mumbai witnessed one of its worst communal riots after the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

In the verdict delivered on December 5, nearly 33 years after the violence, additional sessions judge M B Oza acquitted Asif Ali Shaikh of charges under the Indian Penal Code for attempt to murder, rioting and unlawful assembly, among others.

In the order, a copy of which became available on Thursday, the court said the prosecution failed to prove Shaikh's active participation in the alleged unlawful assembly or rioting.

As per the prosecution, 300 to 400 people from two communities clashed in Wadala (East) area of the city on January 12, 1993, during which stones, soda bottles and burning balls and tube lights were pelted at houses and factories.

Police tried to disperse the mob using lathi-charge and eventually fired rifle rounds in the air. Four individuals were injured in the stone-pelting, the prosecution said.

The court had earlier acquitted 14 accused in the case between 2003 and 2023, citing lack of evidence. Shaikh was arrested in July 2025.

The judge noted that there was no direct or circumstantial evidence to prove that Shaikh, along with other accused, formed an unlawful assembly.

A prosecution witness testified to the presence of a violent mob, but did not identify the accused as one of the people who took part in the violence, the court said.

No identification parade was conducted to confirm the identity of the accused, it said, holding that there was "absolutely no evidence on record to show the complicity of the accused in the crime." An estimated 900 people were killed in the riots which took place in December 1992 and January 1993. PTI AVI KRK