Muslim Techie Murder Accused Given Bail, Court Says 'Provoked in the Name of Religion'

Mumbai: Three people accused in the murder of a Pune techie in 2014 in the aftermath of the controversy over morphed pictures of Shivaji and Bal Thackeray were granted bail by the Bombay High Court last week on grounds that they “had no personal enmity against the deceased" and that “the fault of the deceased was only that he belonged to another religion."

Mohsin Sadiq Sheikh was killed by a mob allegedly made up of a right-wing group called Hindu Rashtra Sena. On the day of the murder, police say Hindu Rashtra Sena organized a meeting to discuss alleged morphed pictures of Shivaji that were in circulation on social media. HRS leader Dhananjay Desai allegedly incited those present to go on a rampage. As per the prosecution the accused armed with wooden sticks went out on the streets and on spotting Mohsin and his colleague Riyaz on a bike, assaulted them. Riyaz who escaped later said Mohsin was attacked because he was wearing a skull cap and sported a beard. Neither Mohsin nor Riyaz was linked to the alleged derogatory content on social media.

The trial in the case is yet to begin and HRS leader Desai has been refused bail. While granting bail to Vikaj Gambhire, Ganesh Yadav and Ajay Lalge, the court observed that the accused “had no personal enmity against the deceased."

"The fault of the deceased was only that he belonged to another religion. I consider this factor in favour of the accused. Moreover the accused do not have any criminal record and it appears that in the name of religion they were provoked and have committed murder," HC judge Mridula Bhatkar observed.

"It is apparent that the accused were present at the time of the incident. There are statements of the witnesses and police officer that the accused attended a meeting of Hindu Rashtra Sena on the same day half an hour before the actual incident of assault," the court said.

The court, while earlier rejecting Desai’s bail, had referred to his speech and stated that it was sufficient to incite the feelings of religious discrimination in the crowd.