In a supplementary chargesheet filed before court, the the Sarikela-Kharsawan police in Jharkhand invoked IPC Section 302 (murder charge) against the accused mob in the Tabrez Ansari lynching case, The Indian Express reported. The publication claimed that the police cited additional medical evidence and a second opinion to reach the conclusion that Ansari’s death was due to the combined effect of “injury and cardiac arrest”.
The police had, on September 10, dropped murder charges against all the 13 accused in the mob lynching case and converted it into one of culpable homicide not amounting to murder (IPC Section 304) on the basis of postmortem, medical and forensic reports which said 24-year-old Ansari died of cardiac arrest.
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While the quantum of punishment under Section 302 is death or imprisonment for life and fine, the penalty under Section 304 is imprisonment for life or imprisonment for 10 years or fine or both.
As the previous medical report, which stated that Ansari's death was caused due to cardiac arrest, was not clear, the police took a second opinion of specialist doctors from the MGM Medical College and Hospital in Jamshedpur. "On the basis of main findings, we opined that (1) The fracture of bone is grievous injury caused by hard and blunt object. (2). The combined effect of fracture of bone, pale organs and heart chambers full of blood resulting into cardiac arrest," the report by fresh board of doctors said.
The police also did not find any distortion in the viral video showing Ansari being beaten up by the accused. 13 accused were arrested in connection with the death of 24-year-old Ansari.
Ansari worked as a labourer and welder in Pune and had come home to celebrate Eid when he was captured by locals at Dhatkidih village on the night of June 17 over suspicion of trying to steal a motorcycle.
He was tied to a pole and assaulted by a mob with sticks and iron rods. A video of the scene that went viral and was flashed across tv networks showed he was forced to chant 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Jai Hanuman' by his tormentors.
A special investigation team (SIT) was set up to look into the matter. The accused were charged with Section 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 325 (causing grievous hurt), 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings). Speaking to The Indian Express, SP Karthik.S. had then said, "The medical report did not substantiate the murder charge. The final post-mortem report said Ansari died due to cardiac arrest and that a haemorrhage in the head was not fatal."
Though there was no evidence of the perpetrators' link to any Hindu right organisation, Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists had protested their arrest. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was set up to look into the case after Ansari was declared "brought dead" by doctors at the Tata Main Hospital in Jamshedpur on June 22.
Two policemen were suspended in connection with the incident.
-Inputs from PTI