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Gzb police form SIT to probe cases of violence during anti-CAA protests
The Ghaziabad police have formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the seven cases which were lodged in connection with alleged rioting and incidents of
The Ghaziabad police have formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the seven cases which were lodged in connection with alleged rioting and incidents of violence in the district during the turmoil over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA.
Police officers said the decision to form an SIT was taken to centralise the investigation into the cases.
Following alleged incidents of rioting in Loni, Pasonda, Muradnagar and Kaila Bhatta (PSC Chowk) among other places during the anti-CAA protests on December 20 and in the following days, the police had lodged seven FIRs and booked 304 identified persons and 4,850 other unidentified persons. The police have arrested 110 persons in connection with the cases, so far.
The SIT will report to the senior superintendent of police (SSP) and will be headed by the superintendent of police (crime). The SP(crime) will be assisted by a team of two inspectors and a sub-inspector.
“The SIT will directly report to the SSP and will investigate the seven cases. The investigation in these cases will not be conducted by the local police as a few issues regarding their role in the investigation have come to light. So, we decided to get the cases investigated by an SIT,” Sudhir Kumar Singh, SSP (Ghaziabad), said.
According to a senior police officer, who did not wish to be named, there have been some issues regarding the role of the police into the investigation in the cases. While some people were falsely implicated and their names were added to the list of suspects in Loni, the local police had let off some suspects under mysterious circumstances, the officer said.
“The people who were falsely named as suspects were released after the intervention of senior police officials, and an internal inquiry is being conducted to probe cases where some suspects were let off without a proper probe into their role,” the officer said.
SSP Singh said that all such issues will be taken care of and looked into.
“Each and every aspect will be looked into. After the formation of the SIT, the local police stations will be directed to make arrests of suspects only after their role is clearly established. The probe into the role of the suspects will be conducted by the SIT, while the arrests will be made by the local police station,” the SSP added.
The police have also put up hoardings at different public places displaying photographs of people who were allegedly involved in the rioting. The photographs were taken from the video footage and pictures clicked by police photographers during the different protests in the district.
