Pulwama 16 Feb(KNB): Court of Additional Sessions Judge Pulwama has acquitted Riyaz Ahmad Kholi, the lone surviving accused in a 2007 murder case involving the beheading of Mohammad Yousuf Kalas, after holding that the prosecution failed to prove his involvement beyond reasonable doubt.
The case arose from FIR No. 179/2007 registered at Police Station Rajpora under Sections 364 and 302 of the Ranbir Penal Code. According to the prosecution, Mohammad Yousuf Kalas, a resident of Nasarpora, was allegedly abducted at gunpoint on August 28, 2007, by militants and later killed. His beheaded body was reportedly recovered near a water tank in village Dunado, Pulwama.
Initially, three persons were named as accused: Lateef Ahmad Tedva and Aijaz Ahmad Shah, both of whom died during the pendency of the trial, and Riyaz Ahmad Kholi. The prosecution alleged that the crime was committed at the instance of militant leadership and that an Urdu letter purportedly issued by Hizbul Mujahidin was recovered from the body.
During the trial, the prosecution examined ten witnesses. However, the court found the testimonies of key eyewitnesses to be unreliable. One witness claimed to have seen the accused commit the homicidal act, but the court observed that his account was inconsistent with normal human conduct and probabilities. Another prosecution witness admitted during testimony that he could not identify who killed the deceased, thereby materially contradicting the prosecution’s version of direct ocular evidence.
The court also took serious note of the delay of nearly four months in recording statements of witnesses under Section 164-A of the Criminal Procedure Code, holding that the unexplained delay significantly undermined their evidentiary value and raised the possibility of deliberation or embellishment.
Further, contradictions emerged regarding the source of information leading to the registration of the FIR. While prosecution witnesses claimed the police were informed directly, the Investigating Officer admitted that the information was received from a “reliable source,” casting doubt on the authenticity of the earliest version of events.
The court observed that no Test Identification Parade was conducted and that the prosecution failed to establish a direct nexus between the accused and the act causing death. While the homicidal death of Mohammad Yousuf Kalas was held to be proved through medical evidence, the court ruled that suspicion, however strong, cannot substitute proof in criminal jurisprudence.
“Participation of the accused has not been proved beyond reasonable doubt. No person can be convicted on the basis of conjecture, surmise or incomplete evidence,” the court held, granting Riyaz Ahmad Kholi the benefit of doubt.
Accordingly, the accused was acquitted of all charges.(KNB)