YET TO BE ARRESTED | A youth caught on camera, besides Ansari, vandalizing the martyrs’ memorial
EVENING OF ANARCHY
Mateen Hafeez TNN
Mumbai: Those present at the August 11 Azad Maidan rally have unknowingly helped the police in its investigation of the riot that occurred on the occasion. Police sources said that besides footage from CCTV cameras installed in the area by the BMC and the railways, investigators have access to hundreds of MMS clips that were made by rally participants. These include scenes of police personnel being beaten up and the snatching of a self-loaded rifle (SLR) from a policeman. TOI recently carried on Page 1 a picture of a rioter with the SLR.
“Most cellphones nowadays come equipped with a camera. As the riot broke out, many present there began shooting with their phones. Some filmed the violence for two to six minutes while most took minute-long clippings,” said a crime branch officer. “They forwarded the clippings as MMS to friends and relatives, who made yet more forwards.”
The police activated their network of informants, or khabris, who began collecting the video clips. “The clips were circulated with an enthusiasm similar to the circulation of pictures and videos of alleged atrocities against Muslims in Assam and Myanmar. Most of the arrests we made were based on these clips,” the officer said. “In some videos, one can hear excited rioters egging others on to make yet more attacks. But we did not consider everyone seen in the clips as a rioter; the arrests were based on as much evidence as we could collect.”
He said help also came from the general public
in the form of pictures and videos of the violence. “We used these to
identify many more rioters.”
A source said the clips, along with CCTV footage, will be used as electronic evidence against the accused (see box for the legal status of such evidence).
Meanwhile,
the police’s cyber crime investigation cell has blocked over 55
provocative videos online and seven websites containing doctored
photographs and video clippings of atrocities against Muslims.
LEGALITY OF ELECTRONIC EVIDENCE
The Supreme Court has held in the past that tape recordings can be used as corroborative evidence
The same applies to other forms of electronic evidence
Such evidence cannot by itself be used to secure conviction
But it can be useful as proof along with primary evidence like eyewitness accounts and results of identification parades
The Supreme Court has held in the past that tape recordings can be used as corroborative evidence
The same applies to other forms of electronic evidence
Such evidence cannot by itself be used to secure conviction
But it can be useful as proof along with primary evidence like eyewitness accounts and results of identification parades
RIOT | A
rally called at Azad Maidan on August 11 to condemn alleged atrocities
against Muslims in Assam and Myanmar turned violent, leading to attacks
on police personnel and vandalism
DEAD 2
ARRESTED IN CUSTODY 54
DISCHARGED 3
INJURED 55, including over 35 policemen
INJURED 55, including over 35 policemen
BAIL APPLICATIONS 5
WANTED More than 15
NOTABLE ARRESTS | Salim
Choukiya, for snatching a self-loaded rifle (SLR) from a policeman;
Sayyed Tabrez and Waseem Khan, for stone pelting; Imran Sheikh, for
lighting a match to set a police vehicle afire; Abul Qadir Ansari, for
desecrating the Amar Jawan Jyoti
The Times of India, August 30, 2012
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