Mumbai riots: Former tourist taxi driver’s 31-year fight to prove his innocence
On June 18, a sessions court acquitted Rajesh Jaiswal in a case linked to the 1992-93 communal riots in the city, sparked by the demolition of the Babri Masjid
MUMBAI: After a harrowing 31-year battle to prove his innocence, Rajesh Jaiswal is seated in his car looking rather relieved. On June 18, a sessions court acquitted him in a case linked to the 1992-93 communal riots in the city, sparked by the demolition of the Babri Masjid. The Mira Road resident was accused of being part of a mob that had rioted, assaulted public servants and damaged public property.
The effects of the 16th-century mosque’s demolition were far-fetched, with Mumbai facing a significant brunt of it. More than 900 people died and several others were injured in communal riots that spread across the city. Dozens were later arrested in connection with the riots, including Jaiswal, who used to live at 90 Feet Road in Dharavi at the time.
Jaiswal spoke to HT about his side of the story, which stands in sharp contrast to the prosecution’s case narrated by the police.
When Jaiswal was having breakfast in Mahabaleshwar on the morning of January 13, 1993, little did he know that he would end the day inside the lockup of the Dharavi police station. Twenty-five years old at the time, Jaiswal was working as a driver with Anuradha Travels, Vile Parle. He had gone to Mahabaleshwar to drop a client. After returning to Mumbai that evening, he dropped his vehicle off at his office in Vile Parle and took the train. He got off at Matunga and decided to walk to his Dharavi home because of the curfew and communal tension in the city.
Later that evening, police officers turned up at his door and asked him to come to the police station to discuss bandobast arrangements “for Pongal festivities” happening the next day. An unsuspecting Jaiswal went to the police station with his friend, Bhaskar Pujari. However, after reaching there, they realised they were being arrested in connection with the riots that had taken place during the day.
“The then DCP Sanjay Pandey slapped me twice”, said Jaiswal. “I was not even present there. On the day of the arrest, I showed the voucher of my duty slip as well. I had left Mumbai on January 7, 1993, and returned to the city on January 13 after dropping my client.”
However, the prosecution told the court that Jaiswal was part of a mob that had gathered between Sansar Hotel and Kala Qilla in Dharavi on December 7, 1992, and damaged property, looted shops and assaulted innocent people. He was booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Arms Act and the Maharashtra Police Act. The police had charged at least 50 people, out of which many were shown absconding, and several died during the pendency of the trial.
According to Jaiswal, he was working on December 7, 1992, and wasn’t even in the city, so there was no question of him being part of the mob. He was kept in the police lockup for one week, after which the Bandra court granted him bail. The years that followed were full of fear and anxiety for him and his family. Every time he had to go to court for a hearing, his wife would panic that he’d be arrested again.
After his arrest in January 1993, Jaiswal was forced to shift from Dharavi to Appapada in Malad as he feared that the police would keep booking him in fake cases whenever they failed to apprehend the real culprits. “I no longer felt like staying in Dharavi. I grew up there, but I feared that the police would eventually pick me up in some other case”, said Jaiswal.
The family later shifted to Mira Road. Jaiswal also stopped working as a tourist car driver and started his own ice factory in Vasai. The last time he had gone to court was in 2019. He eventually lost track of the case, until the police issued a non-bailable warrant against him earlier this year.
On February 16, 2024, Jaiswal’s brother, who lives in Dharavi, informed him that the police had called him again. Jaiswal went to the police station and was produced in court the following day, which granted him bail.
Jaiswal’s ordeal finally ended on June 18, more than 31 years after the riots, when the sessions court cleared him of all the charges. The court said there is no evidence to prove that Jaiswal was present at the time of the incident. It added that “the prosecution failed to prove any of the charges levelled against the accused”.
Till now, Jaiswal was a little hesitant to speak up about the case. “But now, I am a free man, so I can say what actually happened,” he said.