Abdul Malik Submits Alibi Evidence, Says He Was Not Present in Haldwani During Violence: Report

New Delhi: Abdul Malik, a 64-year-old businessman from Delhi, was arrested by the Uttarakhand Police on February 24.

The police allege that Malik incited a mob against officials in Haldwani’s Banbhoolpura locality on February 8.

However, Malik claims he was not present in Haldwani that day and provides evidence of his whereabouts in Delhi, Noida, and Faridabad. This evidence includes records from a hotel in Noida where he stayed and security footage confirming his visit to a lawyer in Greater Noida on February 8, Scroll.in reported.

According to Scroll.in, among those who corroborated Malik’s account is Balbir Punj, a former Member of Parliament from the Bharatiya Janata Party. Additionally, footage from a security camera confirms that Malik visited a lawyer in Greater Noida at his daughter’s home on the evening of February 8.

In a first information report on February 8, the police charged Malik and 15 others with Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, or UAPA, and said that they mobilised a mob and incited them on religious grounds to attack government officials and police personnel present at the site that evening, the report said.

“I have no connection with this incident [February 8 violence] and I’m being falsely framed,” Malik said in his letter to the Uttarakhand director-general of police. “But I’m ready to surrender and be part of an impartial investigation.”

The FIR was filed at the Banbhoolpura police station at 9.30 pm on February 8. The complainant is station house officer Neeraj Bhakuni, the report added.

The FIR also lists Malik’s son, Abdul Moeed, as an accused, the report said.

The 16 men and “other rioters” have been booked under section 15 of the stringent UAPA and 12 sections of the Indian Penal Code, including attempt to murder, rioting and dacoity. The Uttarakhand Prevention of Defacement of Public Property Act, 2003, and the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1932, have also been invoked in the FIR.

According to ANI, Moeed was arrested in Delhi on Thursday, February 29.

This was the 84th arrest in connection with the case, according to the Indian Express.

Four civilians were killed in the violence and several others, including police personnel, were injured. But according to a fact-finding report, the death toll may be higher than the official figures.