The High Court granted bail to over 50 people, including six women, accused of violence and arson in protest against the encroachment removal action in the Malik Ka Bagh area of Banbhulpura.
The division bench also canceled the order of the lower court where the police did not file a chargesheet even after 90 days of the incident. ‘The court slammed the state police for failing to file FIR within 90 days leading to orders allowing bail to 50 accused Islamists’, according to the media reports.
The police are supposed to file a chargesheet in the case within 90 days of the incident. The police did not file the charge sheet in the case even after 200 days and the accused persons submitted an application in the lower court seeking bail.
Earlier the bail was denied by the lower court given the serious charges framed against the accused. A total of 51 accused have been granted bail so far. One person was granted bail on the grounds of serious illness.
A total of 107 people, including several women were arrested in the case. The Banbhulpura violence where 5 persons lost lives was the first instance where internet was shut down in the city.
According to the media reports, accused Nabi Raza Khan, Akhtari Beg, and Abdul Lateef were already dead when the police included their names in the list of accused. The inclusion of deceased persons’ names, and the failure to submit the charge sheet for over 200 days was cited as major lapses on the part of the police.
Islamists resorted to stone pelting and arson in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani area on 8th February this year. The frenzied mob attacked authorities who went there to demolish a madrasa, which was built on illegally encroached govt land near the Banbhulpura police station.
3 main FIRs were registered in the case, the first by Haldwani municipality, the second by Banbhulpura police station and the third one by the SHO Mukhani Pramod Pathak respectively.
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