A year on,not a penny recovered from Azad Maidan rioters

The Collector’s office has so far received responses from just 18 of the 77 suspects who were issued showcause notices. All 18 have denied any role in the destruction of property and have refused to pay any compensation. They have now been called for hearings.

“We have received all the relevant documents and chargesheet filed in the case from the Mumbai police. There are 77 accused named in the chargesheet,besides 964 witnesses. We have issued notices to all of them. While some of the accused are from Mumbai city,others are from the suburbs or Thane. The respective collectors have been asked to issue notices to them. We have started calling them for hearings,which have started,” said Chandrashekhar V Oak,Collector of Mumbai (City),who is also currently holding additional charge as Collector (Suburbs).

“Two or three of the accused have reported for the hearings and their statement has been recorded. We have asked the accused for proof that they were not present during the riot. We are also hearing out witnesses to make our own assessment of the value of the property damaged or destroyed on August 11,and will not go solely by the figures provided by the police,” said Oak.

According to Mumbai police,OB vans of three TV channels,two police vans and five vehicles were set ablaze during the August 11 violence. Rioters also pelted stones at 24 BEST buses. Fifteen police vehicles,eight private vehicles and a vehicle each of the fire brigade and BMC were damaged,a remand application filed before a court on August 12 last year stated. The damage to property has been pegged at Rs 2.75 crore,of which property worth Rs 36.45 lakh belonged to government. The rest was private property.

Mumbai police’s Crime Branch had said Maulana Ahmed Raza,the organiser of the protest rally,would have to pay for the damages as it was he who had officially sought police permission for the rally against alleged atrocities on Muslims in Assam and Myanmar. Raza,general secretary of NGO Madinatul Ilm,held around six meetings urging various groups to join the rally,although he had told police that the rally would attract only around 1,200 people,crime branch said.

Asked what action had been taken to recover compensation for damage to property from the organisers of the rally,Oak said he was not aware of specific details. “An address given to us by the Mumbai police for organisers Maulana Ahmed Raza of Madinatul Ilm and Syed Noori of Raza Academy turned out to be bogus. We have received a fresh address,which was forwarded to the Mumbai Suburban Collector’s office so that a notice could be sent,” said Oak.

According to Oak,it could take over eight months to begin the process of recovering compensation from the accused,or to attach their properties if they fail to pay up.