2 murder accused walk free after cops fail to trace lone eyewitness

Two men accused of brutally killing a person in Delhi have been acquitted by a local court after the police failed to produce the lone eyewitness.

Special judge Narinder Kumar absolved the accused of the offence of murder and said the prosecution could not secure the presence of the 16-year-old eyewitness on whose statement the case was registered.

"Despite efforts, the prosecution could not secure the presence of prosecution witness...A fresh process was issued and directed to be served. However, the inspector also could not get the process served because of non traceability of the witness," the judge said.

The court noted the police's submission that the witness was a vagabond and hence summons could not be served.

"As a result, when the court finds that prosecution has not been able to substantiate accusation levelled against the accused, both the accused persons are acquitted," the judge said.

The victim was found dead on the roof of the Gauri Shankar temple near New Delhi Railway Station on January 21.

The police lodged a murder case after the eyewitness told them that he saw the accused kill the man with a stone and a knife.

It was alleged that the accused were arrested and the weapons used in committing the offence were also recovered.

The postmortem report, too, confirmed that stone caused his death, the court noted.

However, as the only eyewitness could not be produced, the court did not consider other witnesses and evidence and acquitted the accused of the charges.