Updated: September 16, 2020 8:07:45 pm
More than 53 people were killed and more than 200 injured after communal clashes broke out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between supporters of the citizenship law and protesters spiraled out of control.
Delhi police on Wednesday filed an indictment in a city court against 15 individuals under the strict Illegal Activity (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and various sections of the IPC in connection with the disturbances in northeast Delhi in February.
In its 10,000-page charge sheet, the police have listed 747 witnesses and of them, 51 have registered their statements under CRPC 164 (before the magistrate), the PTI news agency reported.
The police also told the court that it has relied heavily on CD-R and WhatsApp chats. Previously, the police said they had identified the blocking of traffic by protesters against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as “the first indicator that there was a conspiracy because of which it all started.”
Speaking at a webinar organized by the Delhi Police Officers Association, which was also attended by Commissioner SN Shrivastava, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwaha was quoted by PTI as saying that they had not yet found any evidence of the participation of pro-CAA-NRC protesters.
Read | Guided by facts, not personalities: police chief investigating riots
“When we started investigating the Delhi riots, we first looked at all the sites and found a common pattern that a traffic jam started at all sites simultaneously. It was the first indicator that there was a conspiracy because of which it all started, ”Kushwaha had said.
On the role of BJP leader Kapil Mishra and the alleged inflammatory speech a day before the riots, the DyCP was quoted as saying that “a narrative is being created that pro-CAA / NRC people were involved in it, but it has not entered in the investigation yet “.
Explained | Umar Khalid Arrested Under UAPA In Delhi Riots Case: What Is This Anti-Terror Law?
Earlier this week, the Delhi Police Special Cell arrested former JNU student leader Umar Khalid in a case registered under UAPA to investigate the alleged “larger conspiracy” behind the riots. Khalid is one of several young activists who have been arrested in cases related to the violence in Delhi in February. Police allege that Khalid and others “planned ahead” for the riots.
Meanwhile, a group of activists issued a statement against the “impudence” of the Delhi Police investigation into the Delhi riots.
Demanding that the activists arrested under the UAPA be released immediately, the statement said: “The real culprits, who in broad daylight threatened to clear the protest site by force or those who arrived with weapons at the sites of protest, or those who chanted provocative and violent slogans. stay free. Even all democratic voices of dissent are gradually being implicated, ”the statement read.
More than 53 people were killed and more than 200 injured after communal clashes broke out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between supporters of the citizenship law and protesters spiraled out of control.
Read also | Sitaram Yechury, Yogendra Yadav, 2 teachers, filmmaker named on Delhi Police Riot charge sheet
An FIR was registered on March 6, based on information provided by an informant to Deputy Inspector Arvind Kumar according to which the informant told Kumar that the violence was a “premeditated conspiracy” and named several people.
The case was later transferred to the Special Cell, which was charged with investigating a “larger conspiracy” behind the riots.
Since then, the unit has invoked the strict UAPA against several people, including Khalid, Devangana Kalita of Pinjra Tod and Natasha Narwal, who are also part of the WhatsApp group in question.
(PTI inputs)
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