A Srinagar court has acquitted three men accused in the 2017 murder of Neelofar Azad and theft of gold ornaments, citing serious flaws in the police investigation and insufficient evidence. The main accused, Shiraz Ahmad Ellahi of Machoowa Chadoora, along with Ashiq Hussain Ganai and Mohammad Amin Zargar, were cleared of all charges.
The judgment highlighted multiple investigative failures, including mismatched timelines between the alleged murder date and postmortem report, improperly handled call records that violated legal procedures, and unreliable witness testimonies.
The court noted that the stolen ornaments were never conclusively linked to the accused. In strongly worded observations, the court criticized the “casual and unprofessional” police work and ordered a departmental inquiry against the investigating officer.
The acquittal underscores the judiciary’s position that suspicion alone cannot justify conviction without solid evidence proving guilt beyond reasonable doubt. (Source: Asian News Hub)
