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Indian Express
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Won't lose hope… will go up to SC, says man who lost sons in 2020 Northeast Delhi riots
Babu Khan's (60) life changed forever five years ago. It was in February 2020, when both his sons, Hashim Ali Khan and Aamir Khan, were killed in the Northeast Delhi riots. Five years later, citing insufficient evidence, a Delhi court on April 30 acquitted 12 men allegedly involved in Hashim's killing. The case related to Aamir's killing is still pending before the court. 'His (Hashim) five-year-old daughter still asks me when her father will come home. What do I tell her?' asked Babu, who has difficulty breathing. 'I have been sick for a year. I can't work. My two children were my only hope. No doctor has been able to detect what is wrong with me… my lungs feel heavy,' he added. 'Will we ever get justice, I wonder,' said Babu, who stays at Old Mustafabad in Northeast Delhi. 'We are disappointed, but we will not lose hope. We will go to the High Court, even the Supreme Court,' he added. Representing the state, the special public prosecutor had relied on WhatsApp chats from a group in which the accused made 'extra-judicial confessions'. Referring to these chats, Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala of Karkar-dooma Court, in his April 30 order, noted: 'Such posts/messages may be put in the group solely with intention of becoming hero in the estimation of other members of the group and it could be a boast also, without truth.' Noting that except for one witness none supported the case of the prosecution, the court acquitted the 12 accused in the case. In all, nine cases were lodged at Gokulpuri police station against these accused for the murder of nine men. Of the nine cases, while five have ended in acquittals, two are at the stage of final arguments, and in two others, statements of the accused are being heard. All judgments are expected to come by June 4. 'Three of the accused spent six months in jail… the rest spent from three-and-a-half years to four-and-a-half years,' advocate Rakshpal Singh, who represented six of the accused, told The Indian Express. The Delhi Police had filed multiple chargesheets, naming the WhatsApp group in connection with the nine murders. Lokesh Kumar Solanki was the first person arrested in the case. During questioning, he had named the other accused, who were a part of the WhatsApp group. 'Our lawyers didn't do much. They didn't even tell us what was happening,' said Babu. 'Both my sons were killed… I am barely alive… and at the last stage of my life. Who will look after my family,' he asked. Between February 24 and 26 in 2020, riots engulfed Delhi, leaving 53 dead and over 500 injured, while damaging property worth crores. Till this February, verdicts have been pronounced in 109 of the 695 cases of rioting, arson, and unlawful assembly lodged by the district police. According to the court orders, of the 109 judgments, 90 resulted in acquittals (82%) and 19 in convictions (18%). The acquittals, records showed, are split evenly between the two communities. In 51 of the 90 (57%) acquittals, witnesses have turned hostile.
The Print
06-05-2025
- The Print
Delhi riots acquittals: Hostile witnesses, unanswered questions & a ‘Kattar Hindu Ekta' WhatsApp group
The nine cases lodged in the Gokulpuri Police Station have the same set of accused, except one additional accused in one case and two more in another case. Investigation revealed this group had discussed how Muslims need to be taught a 'lesson'. Some of the group's members and their WhatsApp chats—in which they have boasted about 'killing Muslims'—formed the basis of the prosecution case in the murders of nine Muslim men who were allegedly intercepted by a mob, beaten up with sticks and iron rods, stoned and also attacked with swords. Their bodies were dumped in the Bhagirathi Vihar drain. New Delhi: 'Aane do, in m**** ka s*** bna denge (let these Muslims come, will thrash and reduce them to pigs); 'Tumhare Bhai ne abhi 9 bje k krib m 2 m**** mare hai (your brother killed two Muslims around 9 O'clock in Bhagirathi Vihar)'; 'Pistol hai humare paas (we have pistols)'—these are some of the messages posted on the WhatsApp group 'Kattar Hindu Ekta' created on 25 February, 2020, during the peak of the Northeast Delhi riots that left at least 53 dead and scores of others injured. In three of these nine murder cases, all 12 Hindu men accused were acquitted by a Delhi court on 30 April, with the judge citing lack of substantive evidence, eyewitnesses and unanswered questions on the incidents. Judgments in the six remaining cases are awaited. While acquitting the 12 men, Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Pulastya Pramachala said the chats in the WhatsApp group cannot be substantive evidence to establish their guilt. The court also said witness statements were confusing and there was a lack of eyewitnesses to the murders, or the identification of the accused. There was no evidence to say where the victims were intercepted and no clarity on which mob targeted them. Among the victims is Babu Khan's son Hashim, who was 19. Hashim and his brother Aamir were allegedly killed by a mob and their bodies dumped in the Bhagirathi Vihar drain on 26 February, 2020. Their bodies were found the next day. According to the prosecution case, a mob screaming 'Har Har Mahadev' and 'Jai Sri Ram' had intercepted them while they were on their way home on their 'Apache' motorbike and killed them. The judgment in Aamir's case is awaited, in which 14 Hindu men are accused. Then there are the cases of Bhure Ali and Aamin. A series of acquittals and discharges has taken place in the Delhi riots cases and courts have repeatedly pulled up the Delhi Police over shoddy probes and erroneous chargesheets. In one of the murder cases, one Arif Khan was accused by the Delhi Police of being part of a Hindu mob that allegedly killed three Muslim men. Khan was discharged and later acquitted of rioting charges. Four Hindu accused were also acquitted of murder charges. ThePrint had earlier reported last year that out of the 757 cases lodged in connection with the Delhi riots, there have been 183 acquittals and 75 discharges; 53 murder cases were transferred to the Crime Branch, out of which 14 remain unsolved. Also read: 4 yrs after Delhi riots, why 'larger conspiracy' case against Umar Khalid & others is still in limbo 'It could be a boast, without truth' ASJ Pramachala noted in one of the acquittal orders that such social media messages and posts 'may be put in the group solely with the intention of becoming heroes in the estimation of other members of the group and it could be a boast also, without truth'. The court also observed that merely mentioning the killing of two Muslim men by the accused, Lokesh, does not constitute substantive evidence that he actually committed the murders. At least three witnesses in the case were members of the WhatsApp group, and all of them turned hostile. Another key prosecution witness, Narrottam Singh—a resident of Bhagirathi Vihar, where the rioting and murders occurred—was declared hostile in all three cases with regard to identifying the accused. The testimony of another key witness, Nisar Ahmed, was also found to be 'worthless' as he claimed he saw the accused in the mob at a different time than the time of the murders. He also didn't vouch to have seen the murders. Ahmed was declared hostile on the aspect of identification of some of the accused. The ASJ also noted that while the court is certain the murders took place, some aspects of the incident remain unclear—including the exact time and location of the killings, and where the victims were intercepted. 'Hence, it also becomes difficult to assume as to at what particular place and time such an incident had taken place. Whether it was a mob consisting of 5 or more persons (which could be termed as unlawful assembly), or otherwise. Such questions have remained unanswered in the evidence of this case,' the court noted in one of the orders. (Edited by Ajeet Tiwari) Also Read: Who killed Mehtab, Jakir, Ashfaq & Jameel — 4 yrs since Delhi riots, acquittals & unsolved murders
New Indian Express
06-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
2020 Delhi riots: Court acquits 12 in Hashim Ali murder case
NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has acquitted 12 men of all charges linked to the killing of a man identified as Hashim Ali during the 2020 North-East Delhi riots. Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala of the Karkardooma Courts cleared all allegations against Lokesh Kumar Solanki, Pankaj Sharma, Ankit Chaudhary, Prince, Jatin Sharma, Himanshu Thakur, Vivek Panchal, Rishabh Chaudhary, Sumit Chaudhary, Tinku Arora, Sandeep and Sahil. 'I find that in the name of circumstantial evidence, there are some fragments and pieces of evidence, which fall much short to point out towards any of the accused persons as member of the culprit mob,' the judge said in the order. According to witness accounts, the accused were seen carrying stones, sticks, swords, iron rods, and shouting slogans such as 'Jai Sri Ram' and 'Har Har Mahadev'. It was further claimed that these men were leading the mob and instructing others by calling out names. As per the FIR, they were allegedly involved in the murder of nine Muslim men after checking their identities. Public witnesses had reportedly seen the killing of Hashim Ali. The prosecution alleged that the group conspired to 'teach Muslims a lesson' for attacks on Hindus. They were said to have armed themselves with sticks, swords, firearms and more, and killed several, including Hashim Ali and his brother Aamir Khan. But the court found the evidence lacking in terms of identifying any of the accused as part of the mob that stopped the two brothers. 'In fact, except for PW1, no other witness claimed having seen any incident, which could be connected with incident with Hashim and Amir,' the court noted. The judge also dismissed the prosecution's claim that WhatsApp messages linked Lokesh and others to the riots. 'However, I find that this plea is just a general presumption without support of substantive evidence. It shall be matter of analysis of other piece of circumstantial evidence, to see if the chain of all circumstances has been connected, to show involvement of Lokesh and others in the incident leading to death of Hashim,' the judge further said.
Time of India
01-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Indonesia plans 10 GW nuclear power in major renewable energy push, presidential aide says
Jakarta: Indonesia plans a major expansion in renewable energy by 2040, including the introduction of 10 GW of nuclear power, and expects contracts to be given in the next five years, a senior aide of President Prabowo Subianto said in an interview. That would more than double current capacity as Indonesia, one of the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, aims for carbon neutrality before 2050, said Hashim Djojohadikusumo, Prabowo's brother and the president's special envoy for energy and climate. "Many of the contracts will be ... in the next five years ... especially the nuclear (contracts) because of the long lead times," Hashim told Reuters from New York. By 2040, he said Indonesia aims to have an additional 103 GW power capacity, made up of 75 GW from solar, wind, geothermal and biomass, 10 GW from nuclear energy, and the remaining 18 GW from gas. Indonesia's current installed power capacity is around 90 GW, more than half of it from coal. Renewables account for less than 15 GW of the current capacity, and the country has no nuclear power plants . Russian state nuclear firm Rosatom, China National Nuclear Corporation, Britain's Rolls Royce, France's EDF and the U.S. small modular reactor firm NuScale Power Corporation have shown interest in Indonesia's nuclear power ambitions, Hashim said. "I think it's conceivable that they will co-invest with an institution like Danantara," he said, referring to the recently launched Danantara Indonesia sovereign wealth fund. Hashim said no decisions had been made about the location of the nuclear plants, a controversial topic in a country that straddles the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where different plates on the Earth's crust meet increasing the risk of earthquakes and volcanic activity. He said the western part of Indonesia was suitable for single-site nuclear plants that a single unit can generate around 1 GW of power, while floating small-modular reactors generating up to 700 megawatts were suitable in the east. While the government is committed to energy transition, Hashim said it would take a balanced approach to achieving that goal as the president tries to lift the country's economic growth rate to 8% from around 5% in recent years. "The government does not want to commit economic suicide. There'll be no phase out, but there will be a phase down," he said. A deal with the Asian Development Bank for the early retirement of the 660 megawatt Cirebon-1 coal-fired plant in West Java province, which is backed by the $20 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), is expected to be completed in the next few months, Hashim said.
The Star
01-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Indonesia plans 10 GW nuclear power in major renewable energy push, presidential aide says
JAKARTA: Indonesia plans a major expansion in renewable energy by 2040, including the introduction of 10 GW of nuclear power, and expects contracts to be given in the next five years, a senior aide of President Prabowo Subianto said in an interview. That would more than double current capacity as Indonesia, one of the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, aims for carbon neutrality before 2050, said Hashim Djojohadikusumo, Prabowo's brother and the president's special envoy for energy and climate. "Many of the contracts will be ... in the next five years ... especially the nuclear (contracts) because of the long lead times," Hashim told Reuters from New York. By 2040, he said Indonesia aims to have an additional 103 GW power capacity, made up of 75 GW from solar, wind, geothermal and biomass, 10 GW from nuclear energy, and the remaining 18 GW from gas. Indonesia's current installed power capacity is around 90 GW, more than half of it from coal. Renewables account for less than 15 GW of the current capacity, and the country has no nuclear power plants. Russian state nuclear firm Rosatom, China National Nuclear Corporation, Britain's Rolls Royce, France's EDF and the U.S. small modular reactor firm NuScale Power Corporation have shown interest in Indonesia's nuclear power ambitions, Hashim said. "I think it's conceivable that they will co-invest with an institution like Danantara," he said, referring to the recently launched Danantara Indonesia sovereign wealth fund. Hashim said no decisions had been made about the location of the nuclear plants, a controversial topic in a country that straddles the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where different plates on the Earth's crust meet increasing the risk of earthquakes and volcanic activity. He said the western part of Indonesia was suitable for single-site nuclear plants, that a single unit can generate around 1 GW of power, while floating small-modular reactors generating up to 700 megawatts were suitable in the east. While the government is committed to energy transition, Hashim said it would take a balanced approach to achieving that goal as the president tries to lift the country's economic growth rate to 8% from around 5% in recent years. "The government does not want to commit economic suicide. There'll be no phase out, but there will be a phase down," he said. A deal with the Asian Development Bank for the early retirement of the 660 megawatt Cirebon-1 coal-fired plant in West Java province, which is backed by the $20 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), is expected to be completed in the next few months, Hashim said. Concerns about the financial and legal risks of shutting the plant have been a stumbling block, and a new challenge to the energy transition has been the U.S. government's withdrawal from JETP. - Reuters
