‘Be mindful’: Court questions Delhi Police over identifying accused in Turkman Gate case by ‘zooming in’ on video
A Delhi court hearing the bail pleas of three accused in last month’s violence over the demolition of illegal structures near the Faiz-e-Ilahi mosque in the Turkman Gate area asked police on Thursday to be “mindful” about basing their accusations on video footage zoomed in on faces. All nine accused, including the three whose bail […]
Delhi Police questioned a social media influencer over an online video allegedly linked to the mob violence during a demolition drive near Faiz-e-Ilahi Mosque, which left five policemen injured last month. (File)
A Delhi court hearing the bail pleas of three accused in last month’s violence over the demolition of illegal structures near the Faiz-e-Ilahi mosque in the Turkman Gate area asked police on Thursday to be “mindful” about basing their accusations on video footage zoomed in on faces.
All nine accused, including the three whose bail applications were being heard, have claimed that faces are not clearly visible in video that police have relied on. The hearing will continue on Friday.
After the Investigating Officer (IO) submitted that “our head constable took the video from the spot”, Additional Sessions Judge Bhupinder Singh of Tis Hazari Court asked: “How did you identify the accused? FRS (Facial Recognition System) use kiya ya kaise kiya? (Did you use face recognition technology or something else?)”
The IO responded that the accused were identified by zooming into their faces and not by using FRS. “Yeh hamara roz ka kaam hai sir,” he said. The IO clarified that the accused persons have no criminal antecedents.
“Be mindful,” the judge cautioned. “Jo likha hai ussi basis pe statement dena. Kal ko change mat karna… (Give your statement on the basis of what you have written. Don’t change your statement later.)”
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After counsel for accused submitted that the video wasn’t clear, the IO showed the zoomed-in footage to the judge.
Most of the nine accused whose pleas for bail are pending before ASJ Singh have claimed that their faces are not clearly visible in the footage; that they have no prima facie connection with the stone-pelting and there is no footage or photograph that confirms their active participation in the clash; and that they live close by, and had gone out only to check on a member of the family or to see what the commotion was about, and did not join the mob.
The third argument specifically has been made by all three accused whose bail pleas are before the court.
Police have filed detailed replies on seven of the nine pending pleas. They have claimed that all seven are “clearly visible” in videos of the clash, and that the call data records (CDRs) of six confirm their presence at the spot.
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The main evidence that police have relied upon is video footage, CDRs of the accused persons, chats recovered from their seized mobile phones, and statements of eyewitnesses, who are police officers who were present at the spot.
According to police, one of the accused persons had allegedly shared videos of the demolition on a WhatsApp group, another had shared a video on Snapchat that allegedly shows his involvement in the crime, and a third had allegedly posted four “instigating” audio messages on a WhatsApp group.
Turkman Gate Demolition
Early on January 7, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) had used bulldozers to raze encroachments around the Masjid & Dargah Syed Faiz-e-Ilahi adjacent to Ramlila Maidan. The MCD action, which came within hours of the Delhi High Court rejecting a plea for an interim stay on the demolition, triggered violence; people of the area allegedly threw stones, and police responded with mild tear gas.
Only one of the 20 people arrested in connection with the violence has been granted bail so far.
Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.
Professional Background
Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.
Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.
Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.
Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.
Recent notable articles
In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.
1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.
2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.
3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.
Signature Style
Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.
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