NEW DELHI: Umar Khalid, a former student at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), has been arrested by the Delhi police special cell for his alleged role in the riots in northeast Delhi in February this year. The FIR against Khalid alleges that he made provocative speeches in two different places and asked citizens to take to the streets and block roads during Donald Trump’s visit to India.
The task force arrested Khalid on Sunday night, after 11 hours of questioning. Previously, the police had also confiscated his mobile phone.
While seeking police custody of Khalid, the Delhi police stated in the Karkadooma court that their computer team had extracted 40GB of data from Khalid’s mobile phone and they wanted to question him about it. It has 11 lakh of pages.
The Delhi police were given ten days’ custody for questioning.
In Khaild’s speech against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Amravati, which went viral on social media, and one of the two the police are targeting, he can be heard saying “when Donald Trump comes to India On February 24, we will say that the Prime Minister and the Government of India are trying to divide the country … They are destroying the values of Mahatma Gandhi, and the people of India are fighting against them. If those in power want to divide India, the people of India are ready to unite the country. ”
“We will not respond to violence with violence. We will not respond to hatred with hatred. If they spread hatred, we will respond with love. If they hit us with lathis, we keep holding the tricolor, ”Khalid can be heard saying in his speech.
In the FIR filed against Khalid, Delhi police have claimed that the communal violence that broke out was a premeditated conspiracy, allegedly carried out by Khalid and two others, short film producer Rahul Roy and documentary filmmaker Saba Dewan. The trio have been booked for crimes of sedition, murder, attempted murder, promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion and riots.
Khalid was previously charged under the strict Illegal Activities (Prevention) Act in another case related to the riots.
Roy’s name appeared on the supplemental charge sheet filed by the police in connection with the riots. “Although Dewan has not mentioned on the charge sheet, the two were part of a WhatsApp group called ‘Delhi Protests Support Group’,” said a police source.
The police have also summoned Roy and Dewan for questioning in connection with the riots.
Clashes between communities broke out in northeast Delhi on February 23 this year. The riots left 53 dead and around 200 injured. Two Delhi policemen also lost their lives.
According to Anil Mittal, the additional public relations officer of the Delhi Police, “So far a total of 751 FIRs have been recorded in connection with the riot cases. So far, 1,575 people have been arrested, of which 1,153 defendants have been charged, and so far 250 indictments have been filed ”.
Numerous human rights groups have accused the Delhi police of conducting a biased investigation.
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