Mumbai, Jun 19 A court here on Friday acquitted a 52-year-old man in a case related to the burning of a bakery and a house in Bhandup area during the 1992-93 Mumbai riots, citing absence of reliable evidence.
Additional Sessions Judge P A Sable ruled that the evidence against the accused, Shashi Tiyar, was "vague and general".
According to the prosecution, a mob of 40 to 50 people set fire to New Bombay Bakery and an adjacent house near Gavdevi Road in Bhandup (East) at around 10 am on January 12, 1993.
A police team rushed to the spot after noticing heavy smoke, but the rioters fled the scene before any arrests could be made.
Property, including ornaments and coins, was also looted during the chaos, it claimed.
The trial in the case was held in phases. In separate trials in the past, the court had acquitted two co-accused in 2001 and 2024.
In the present trial against Tiyar, the prosecution examined only two witnesses, but the court noted that neither of them attributed any role to the accused.
"Therefore, for want of specific evidence, it cannot be said that Accused No. 2(Tiyar) set fire to Bombay Bakery and dwelling house or committed theft of ornamental coins as alleged by the prosecution," the court held.
The judge also noted that two co-accused had been acquitted in prior trials due to lack of sufficient evidence, and the same set of evidence was presented against Tiyar. The prosecution did not produce "any new or incriminating material".
An estimated 1,000 people died in the 1992-93 Mumbai riots which followed the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
