Junaid Khan lynching case: main accused Naresh Kumar granted bail

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday granted interim bail to Naresh Kumar, a main accused in the Junaid Khan lynching case. With the latest order, other five accused in the case are now out on bail.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court’s judge Daya Chaudhary granted interim bail to Naresh Kumar only in view of the stay ordered by the Supreme Court on the proceedings of the case before the trial court. The lawyer of Naresh had argued that the accused has remained in jail for more than one year and should be granted an interim bail.

Notably, Naresh Kumar is facing charges under Sections 298 (uttering, words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person), 323 voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 341 (wrongful restraint), 301 (culpable homicide), 302 (murder) and other provisions of IPC before the trial court.

Naresh Kumar has been in judicial custody since July 8, 2017. This was the second bail plea of accused Naresh before the trial court. He had earlier withdrawn his first bail plea in April.

In the year 2017, Junaid, his brother and two cousins were attacked on a Mathura-bound train. While Junaid was stabbed to death during the attack, it is alleged that communal slurs were also hurled at them.

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