Delhi police have attached the statement of “inside information” to the February riots charge sheet filed on Wednesday, in which this person claims to have been present at three meetings of protesters against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act , during which he heard one of the accused, Asif Iqbal Tanha, saying “bomba aur bala chalengay” (there will be a bomb and bullets).
The person added in the statement that former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Umar Khalid, whose arrest on Sunday sparked protests that the police investigation was biased and motivated, was also present at the meeting. Investigative bodies can use a statement to the police under the Code of Criminal Procedure 161, but it is not admissible as evidence in court.
HT was unable to confirm whether the insider has also made a similar statement under Criminal Procedure Code 164 before a judge, which is admissible evidence. No senior Delhi police officer was willing to comment on the informant’s role.
Officials familiar with the charge sheet and the investigation that was carried out to present it said the informant’s statement was crucial evidence and shows that some anti-CAA protesters such as Tanha and Khalid planned the riots by blocking roads. HT learned that the informant told the police that he was among the protesters; He claimed to have participated in three meetings on February 16, 17 and 22 at the protesters’ makeshift office in Chand Bagh, and he heard Tanha ask all the leaders to leave Jafrabad as the violence escalated.
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Tanha was among 15 accused by Delhi police of conspiring to orchestrate the riots. Tanha, according to police records, is a member of the Jamia Coordinating Committee and the Islamic Student Organization of India, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, which is not a banned organization.
Apart from this, the police have collected evidence in the form of WhatsApp chats, call data logs, and a money trail to connect arrested suspects such as Khalid, suspended Party councilor Aam Aadmi Tahir Hussain, activist Khalid Saifi and student activists Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita to demonstrate that they orchestrated the violence.
In February, the national capital was rocked by communal riots, the worst in at least three decades, with clashes between Hindu and Muslim groups in various parts of northeast Delhi. Houses were burned and attacked, while vehicles were set on fire. Fifty-three people were killed and around 400 injured in the riots that began as clashes between pro and anti-citizenship (amendment) groups on the night of February 23 near the Jafrabad metro station.
While a city court learned of the police charge sheet on Thursday and will soon press charges before the trial begins, the Delhi police investigation has been criticized by many activists, members of civil society and former officers of the Indian Police Force.
Read Also: Delhi Police Targets CAA-NRC Critics, Says Umar Khalid In Video Recorded Before Arrest
Earlier this week, after police arrested former JNU student Khalid, nine retired officers from the Indian Police Service wrote to Delhi Police Commissioner SN Srivastava, saying they were “pained” that the police implicated anti-CAA protesters while “releasing all those instigated to violence and associated with the ruling party.”
Trideep Pais, Khalid’s lawyer, had told a court on Monday that his client was against citizenship law, but was not present in Delhi during the riots, denied allegations of Khalid’s involvement in the violence, and charged to the police to incriminate him.
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