Additional charge sheet likely against PFI’s Delhi leaders

The police charge sheet alleged that PFI was involved in organising anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests. It also claimed that PFI gave money to the rioters, and some of the conspirators held meetings at PFI’s office in south-east Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh to plan the anti-CAA protests, and the subsequent February 2020 riots.

The investigation against three members of Popular Front of India’s (PFI) Delhi unit in connection with their alleged role during the 2020 Delhi riots case is still on, and a supplementary charge sheet could be filed against them soon, Delhi police officers aware of probe details said.

PFI Delhi unit head Parvez Ahmad at the office of the Enforcement Directorate on Friday. (PTI)

Police say the three men -- Mohammed Danish (33), Mohammed Ilyas (39), and Parvez Ahmad (45) -- office holders of the Delhi chapter of Popular Front of India (PFI) -- were involved in rioting and criminal conspiracy. But they have not been charged with any crime so far.

The three have denied all allegations, and were granted bail by Patiala house court on March 13, two days after their arrests.

One of the points in the police charge sheet, referring to the PFI members, says: “Below mentioned three accused persons were arrested in the present case on the dates as mentioned against each accused person. They were granted bail by the Hon’ble Court…Investigation against these three accused persons is still going on and charge sheet (s) will be filed against these accused persons under Section 173 (8) Cr.P.C.”

The section refers to the powers that police have to conduct further investigation even after filing a final report, or charge sheet.

On Thursday, government agencies and police forces raided PFI premises across 15 states and 93 locations on Thursday, arresting 108 people amid calls to ban the organisation for alleged links with terror groups. In Delhi, Parvez Ahmad and Ilyas were also arrested.

Ahmad is PFI’s Delhi state president, and Ilyas is the secretary. In the charge sheet, police described Parvez and Ilyas as politicians, and the third accused Danish as a student.

They were arrested on March 11 under sections of rioting and criminal conspiracy in an FIR (59/2020) filed on March 6, to probe the alleged conspiracy behind the 2020 communal riots that broke out in different parts of north-east Delhi in February that year, leaving 53 dead and at least 400 others injured. This case is separate from the other FIRs related to murder and rioting based on specific incidents, and is about the alleged conspiracy that led to all those incidents.

They got bail on March 13. More than a month later, on April 19, 2020, police added sections of the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) to this FIR. Some of the other accused, including student activist Umar Khalid, JNU student Sharjeel Imam, former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, and 12 others, were charged under the UAPA under the same FIR. The three PFI members, however, were not.

The Enforcement Directorate, which is separately probing money laundering allegations against PFI, in a remand application before a city court on Friday detailed Ilyas and Ahmad’s roles. The ED said Ahmed claimed the fund for PFI was collected from the group’s sympathisers, which was a lie because the financial transactions shown by PFI was “bogus.”

In the case of Ilyas, ED said he looked after collection of funds in the trans-Yamuna area and had lied about the funds that PFI received. ED said the so-called cash from sympathisers were “proceeds of crime generated out of criminal conspiracy”.

PFI was an important component of the conspiracy hatched in the run up to the 2020 Delhi riots. They were the backstage characters who helped fund the anti-citizenship law protests and the riots. In our case, these three are still being probed. The investigation takes time because of the financial angle related to their crime. The ED is also probing them related to the funding,” said a Delhi Police officer aware of the earlier probe, asking not to be named.

The police charge sheet alleged that PFI was involved in organising anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests. It also claimed that PFI gave money to the rioters, and some of the conspirators held meetings at PFI’s office in south-east Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh to plan the anti-CAA protests, and the subsequent February 2020 riots.

When the three men were granted bail on May 13, the court had noted that charges under which they were arrested were bailable but also ordered them to join investigation whenever police summoned them.

PFI in a statement after the nationwide raids on Thursday rejected allegations of their members’ role in any terror acts. “PFI condemns the nationwide raids, the unjust arrests and harassment of its national and state leaders across India and the witch-hunt against its members,” the group said.