Former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Umar Khalid was arrested in connection with a case related to the conspiracy behind the northeast Delhi riots.
The case is being investigated by the special cell of the Delhi Police, which is investigating a “wider angle of conspiracy” behind the riots that took place in February, in which at least 53 people were killed and another 400 injured.
Khalid was called in for questioning Sunday, said an officer who did not want to be named. He has been questioned twice in the past two months about his alleged role.
“We arrested Umar Khalid on Sunday night,” said a senior police officer associated with the investigation, who asked not to be named. The officer declined to share further details.
According to the cell’s special presentations to the court last month, Khalid along with the other defendants, former AAP councilor Tahir Hussain and activist Khalid Saifi, had hatched a conspiracy to orchestrate the riots, just prior to the visit by the President of the United States, Donald Trump. in February.
On at least four indictment sheets, police have said that Khalid met with suspended and jailed Aam Aadmi Party councilman Hussain and Saifi on January 8 at the Shaheen Bagh protest site to allegedly plan the riots.
Khalid was first questioned on July 31 for his alleged role in the riots. “He was questioned about the alleged provocative speeches he had allegedly made in two different places prior to the visit of US President Donald Trump in February. Khalid had allegedly asked the public to take to the streets and block the roads during Trump’s visit, “the officer said.
In his earlier statement to the press, Khalid has denied the allegations.
More than eight people, including Tahir Hussain, Meeran Haider, a student from Jamia, Safoora Zargar, media coordinator for the Jamia Coordination Committee, and Pinjra Tod activists Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, have been arrested under the Law for the Prevention of Illegal Activities (UAPA).
The people arrested have accused the Delhi police of launching a witch hunt against them because they were prominent voices against the government’s Citizenship Amendment Act.
Delhi police have said the riots were planned by some leaders of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in the national capital.
Khalid was previously arrested in February 2016 for allegedly shouting anti-India slogans inside the JNU campus along with former student union president Kanhaiya Kumar and others. They were charged with sedition. They denied the charges and accused the police of using manipulated videos to build a case against them. The case is being heard by a city court.
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