New Delhi: A Delhi court has framed rioting and attempt to murder charges against Shahrukh Pathan, who aimed a gun at a police constable during riots in northeast Delhi in 2020. A video of Pathan aiming a pistol at constable Deepak Dahiya had gone viral.
Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat said that Dahiya “in the face of such attack of accused resolutely stood his ground and even showed his danda in front of a gun-wielding accused and showed his devotion to duty and work which might have played into the mind of Shahrukh Pathan”.
Pathan’s counsel argued for discharge, as he did not kill the policeman and fired in the air.
The court stated: “In any event, this incident occurred in a flash of seconds and to diminish the valour of a brave policeman by arguing it as an act of magnanimity of accused Shahrukh Pathan in not killing the policeman victim, is neither palatable nor legally sound.”
Besides Pathan, the judge also framed charges against four more accused — Kaleem Ahmad, Ishtiyak Malik, Shamim, and Abdul Shehzad.
The riots broke out in northeast Delhi in February 2020 after clashes between anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and pro-CAA protesters took a violent turn. The violence coincided with then US President Donald Trump’s maiden trip to India.
