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This is an archive article published on April 1, 2025
2020 Delhi riots: Court acquits 12 men in 2 murder cases, says WhatsApp chats can’t be substantive evidence
The 12 men were accused in two separate cases related to the murders of Bhure Ali and Aamin, whose bodies were allegedly dumped inside two drains during the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots.
On February 24, 2020, a communal riot had erupted on a service road near Chand Bagh on Wazirabad Road in Delhi. (Express Photo)
Noting that WhatsApp chats confessing to murders do not constitute substantive evidence, a Delhi court on Friday acquitted 12 men accused of killing two people and throwing their bodies inside two drains during the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots.
“…such post may be put in the group solely with intention of becoming hero in the estimation of other members of the group, also. It could be a boast, without truth also,” Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Pulastya Pramachala of Karkardooma Court noted in his March 28 order while acquitting 12 men in two separate cases related to the murders of Bhure Ali and Aamin. Their bodies were allegedly dumped in the Johripur and Bhagirathi drains in Gokalpuri.
Special Public Prosecutor Madhukar Pandey relied on the WhatsApp chats to implicate Lokesh Solani, the accused. In the chats, Solani purportedly confessed to the murder of the two men.
The court noted that the prosecution had relied upon the same chats to implicate the accused in nine cases of murder. “Aforesaid chats purportedly refer to killing of two persons in the night of 26.02.2020. But, same has been used to support allegations of murder of nine persons,” ASJ Pramachala noted.
“In the present case prosecution alleged time of murder at 10.30 A.M. This scenario itself shows that these chats cannot be related to incident probed in this case,” he added. In the chats, the accused is saying that he had murdered the two men at around 9 pm.
The bodies of the deceased were found in March 2020, a week after the riots rocked the national capital from February 24 to February 26, leaving 53 dead, over 500 injured, and property worth crores damaged.
Following this, the Delhi Police had filed multiple chargesheets naming a WhatsApp group titled ‘Kattar Hindu Ekta’ for the murders. The police alleged that Solani was the first person arrested in the case, and during his interrogation, he named the other accused.
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