A Delhi court has acquitted 30 men charged in four separate cases related to the February 2020 riots in the national capital, Live Law reported on Friday. They were accused of murdering three persons and committing loot and arson.

Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala of the Karkardooma Court passed the four acquittal orders within a week on May 13, May 14, May 16 and May 17, the legal news outlet reported.

The men were accused of being involved in several crimes during the 2020 Delhi riots.

In one case, the complaint had alleged that his medical shop was looted and set on fire during the riots.

The other three cases were pertaining to the murder of three men. One case was related to the killing of a man named Shahbaz, who was allegedly beaten severely and burned alive. Another was related to a man named Akil Ahmed, who died from a head injury caused by blunt force. The third case was about the killing of a man named Aamir Ali.

All three cases were filed based on statements given by an assistant sub-inspector, Live Law reported.

On May 13, Pramachala acquitted 14 men of all charges related to the murder of Aamir Ali, finding them not guilty of rioting, unlawful assembly and murder. However, one of the suspects, Lokesh Kumar Solanki, was convicted under sections of the Indian Penal Code for inciting enmity among groups and public mischief by spreading rumours.

In the other three cases, all persons were acquitted after the prosecution failed to prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, Live Law reported.

Clashes had broken out in North East Delhi in February 2020 between supporters of the Citizenship Amendment Act and those opposing it. The violence left 53 dead and hundreds injured.

The Delhi Police has claimed that the violence in February 2020 was part of a larger conspiracy to defame the Narendra Modi government and was plotted by those who organised the protests against the contentious citizenship law.

However, a fact-finding committee constituted by the Delhi Minorities Commission said that the riots were sparked by inflammatory remarks by Bharatiya Janata Party leaders.

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