SRINAGAR, Sept 8: A special National Investigation Agency court in Srinagar has granted bail to 17
persons accused of killing a police officer in 2017 outside Jamia Masjid.
Judge M S Manhas, while allowing the bail application on Wednesday, said there were no reasonable
grounds to believe that the accused were guilty of killing deputy superintendent of police
Mohammad Ayoub Pandit.
Pandit was killed by a mob on June 22, 2017, outside Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta area of the city when
he was on duty in civvies during the Shab-e-Qadr that year.
“In the present case after perusing the material available on record including the statement of the
witnesses recorded during trial, there are no reasonable grounds believing that accused persons or
applicants are guilty of an offense as alleged in the charge sheet,” the judge said in his 81-page
order.
The court said there was neither direct nor indirect evidence on record to link the accused with the
crime.
“There is neither any direct nor any substantial evidence on the record which could connect the
accused or applicants with the alleged crime. So, in absence of ocular as well as substantial evidence
on the record, the grounds taken by the learned counsel carry weight,” it said. (Agencies)
