Delhi Police put out 69 photos of suspects in Jamia violence, seek help

The Delhi Police has released photos of 69 people, suspected of being involved in violence and rioting during the protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA in Jamia Nagar in the national capital last month. The images have extracted from CCTV footages and video captured during the alleged rioting, the police said.

The police said that these people “actively participated” in the riots and asked the general public to share their identities. The police has also offered reward for any information about the suspects.

At least five buses were torched and more than 100 public and private vehicles damaged when anti-CAA protests in Jamia Nagar and New Friends Colony turned violent on December 15, 2019. Hundreds of people, including students of Jamia Millia Islamia University, took part in the protest.

More than 30 people, including Jamia students and police personnel, were injured as the protesters pelted stones, glass bottles and tube lights on security personnel, who in turn fired tear gas shells and resorted to lathicharge.

A total of 102 people have been arrested so far by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is probing 10 cases registered at eight different police stations across South, Northeast, Central and Shahdara districts following the violence and vandalism during anti-CAA protests last month.

Former Congress legislator Asif Mohammad Khan, Jamia Millia Islamia University student Chandan Kumar, and local politician Ashu Khan were questioned for seven hours last Friday to probe their alleged role in the violence. Investigators also seized their cellphones, which will now be sent to a forensic laboratory to retrieve deleted data, call records and other information that are crucial in the probe.

A Delhi court is hearing a case against the police for entering Jamia campus without any permission after the violence on December 15 and attacking the students. The petition has been filed by Chandan Kumar, who is also the secretary of Left-backed All India Students’ Association (AISA).

Kumar accused the police of not carrying out a “fair investigation”. He further said the police cannot seize the mobile phone of Kumar and it violated his fundamental right.

The court has listed the matter for further hearing on January 31.