22 convicted for arson and attack on police outpost

Lucknow: A court on Monday convicted 22 persons for attack, arson and loot of a police outpost in UP's Barabanki in an 11-year-old case. The court, however, acquitted all of them of the attempt murder charge on account of inadequate evidence, reports Pathikrit Chakraborty.Additional district and sessions judge, Barabanki, Rakesh Kumar Singh also imposed a penalty of Rs 50,000 on each convict.All 22 convicts were held guilty under Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with weapons), 395 (dacoity), 397 (causing injury), 332 (causing hurt to public servant), 353 (use force against public servant), 436 (mischief by fire), 504 (insult) and 506 (intimidation) read with Section 149 of the IPC, along with Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment (CLA) Act and Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.Violence erupted on Aug 31, 2015, a day after an accused allegedly died by suicide at Deva police station lock-up in Barabanki district. According to the FIR, nearly 150 men and women armed with lathis, iron rods and inflammable material attacked the Mati police outpost after being instigated by some local politicians.The mob assaulted policemen, torched the outpost, motorcycles and structures, vandalised wireless systems and attempted to loot weapons from the armoury. Cash, records and police equipment were looted. The incident triggered panic in the area, forcing markets to shut. Police booked 22 men for rioting, arson and attempt to murder.Separate chargesheets were later filed against different sets of accused between Nov 2015 and June 2016. The cases came up for trial in the sessions court. Since both sessions' trials arose from the same incident, the court conducted a joint trial.The defence argued that information had circulated that one Subhash Rajvanshi died due to police assault, following which the accused in a fit of outrage became involved in the violence.The defence pleaded for leniency, stating that the convicts belong to poor families, had dependent children and were sole breadwinners. It argued that imposing maximum punishment would devastate their families economically.Opposing the plea, the prosecution led by DGC Criminal, Arvind Rajput submitted that the accused had carried out a "daring and lawless attack" on the Mati police outpost.Rajput argued that the mob set the outpost ablaze, assaulted policemen, looted govt records and cash, and caused grievous injuries to police personnel.The court observed that the convicts had committed a grave offence, but considering the economic and family circumstances of the convicts, awarding the maximum punishment would not be justified in the facts and circumstances of the case.