Khalid, through his lawyer Trideep Pais, objected to the request for pretrial detention stating that he was not even present in Delhi for the relevant time and that the declaration of pretrial detention did not reveal anything that deserved even a day of custody.
Khalid appeared in court via video conference.
Where is the crime ?, asks Khalid’s lawyer
Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat noted in his remand order that the investigation in the present case of conspiracy behind the Delhi riots was continuing. He said that he had taken into consideration the nature of the case and the role of Khalid that had emerged so far regarding the conspiracy and his involvement in the protests against CAA / NPR / NRC with the support of various radical groups and organizations that had led to the riots.
He noted that a custody questioning had been requested for confronting Khalid with technical data and other material that had emerged during the investigation. “It seems appropriate to have an effective and adequate investigation that allows the present request to seek the police custody of the accused for a period of 10 days,” he said in his order.
The police had passed on their guilty plea through special prosecutor Amit Prasad, who told the court that Khalid had to be confronted with 11 billion-page data. Responding to this, Pais said: “This request (for preventive detention) does not even say that they want to confront him.” Underlining his point that the reasons for requesting pretrial detention were vague, Pais asked what these technical data were that the police wanted to confront his client with. He also referred to two occasions, first in July and then on Sunday, in which Khalid was summoned by the police and interrogated for five hours and 12 hours, respectively.
“Where is the crime, where did he say to go to protest? What do you want from him in 10 days? This is a case in which people have publicly said that they were pressured to give a statement, “Pais said. “There is no accusation of non-cooperation. Why can’t this app reveal something that shows you deserve even a day of custody? “Pais told the court that there had previously been an attempt on Khalid’s life.
Countering Pais, Prasad claimed that, according to UAPA, the agency was not required to make disclosures as the allegations were sensitive in nature.
The prosecution submissions, recorded in the warrant, claimed that Khalid made provocative speeches at various locations and called on the Muslim community to block roads and other public places during the visit of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, from 24 to 25 February 2020. Police alleged a “deep” deep-seated “conspiracy to smear the country in front of the international media during Trump’s visit.” The names of a few more suspects have also surfaced and the above-named defendant is required to be questioned extensively on those suspects to obtain their exact data for further investigation, ”the court was informed.
The court ordered the DCP in question to make the necessary arrangements for Khalid’s safety, attending to the apprehension expressed by his lawyer.
Earlier, Khalid had been interrogated by the Special Cell. Police sources alleged Monday that he had a “secret office” in Chand Bagh, northeast Delhi, where he held late-night meetings with co-defendants Khalid Saifi, Tahir Hussain and others.
Chand Bagh is where large-scale violence broke out in the initial phase of the riots and large numbers of police officers were attacked. Police chief Ratan Lal had also been killed there.
According to sources from the security establishment who are aware of the progress in the investigations but who did not want to be cited, Khalid allegedly could not satisfy the police about the purpose of his frequent visits to this ‘office’ and could not explain the recovered chats. of different devices.
He has been accused by the Special Cell of fostering alliances at the national level with “like-minded people” shortly after the Citizenship (Amendment) Act received Cabinet approval for presentation to Parliament.
He is also being accused by the police, according to these sources, of “guiding” the formation of Muslim Students of JNU (MSJ) through Sharjeel Imam, who was previously arrested under the UAPA. He allegedly used the MSJ to foment the December 2019 riots in southeast Delhi that led to the Shaheen Bagh protests. It was allegedly instrumental in replicating Shaheen Bagh’s model at 24 locations in Delhi in one month.
Sources also alleged that he was instrumental in forming a coalition of “enemies of the current government” that led to the formation of the Delhi Protest Support Group on WhatsApp.
Special Cell sources claim to have evidence about a key gathering of their infantrymen where the contours of the violence that would unfold in northeast Delhi allegedly ended.
Police summon the documentary filmmaker
The Delhi Police Special Cell has summoned film producer Rahul Roy and documentary filmmaker Saba Dewan for questioning in connection with the disturbances in northeast Delhi.
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