Mosque row: Video helps cops nail guilty

Five more arrested for last week’s violence near disputed site; all of them are Old Delhi residents.

The video recording of last week’s violence at the site of the purported Mughal-era ruins found near the Jama Masjid Metro Station is helping the Delhi Police corner the guilty.

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After scanning the video footage and identifying the people behind the violence, the police cross-checked their links with those who had already been arrested. Based on their findings, the police arrested five more residents of Jama Masjid on Monday.

On July 20, violence had broken out in Old Delhi near the disputed site — Matia Mahal MLA Shoaib Iqbal claims the remains are of the Mughal-era Akbarabadi mosque. The police had then arrested two persons for rioting and damaging public property.

“The arrested persons revealed the names of several others who were involved in the violence. We required evidence to arrest them and the video recording confirmed their involvement. This was enough to arrest them,” a senior police officer said.

All five arrested on Monday are from the Jama Masjid area. Both the Delhi Police and local leaders had earlier claimed that the violence was the handiwork of outsiders who wanted to disturb the peace of the area.

“The arrested persons are Mohammad Imran, Imran, Arshad, Shamin and Salman, all residents of Old Delhi. They have been sent to judicial custody. Three of them have criminal records,” the officer added.

Police said more people would be arrested as they were still scanning the footage. “We did not want to arrest any innocent person and that is why we took over a week to arrest these five. Unless there is concrete evidence, we won’t arrest anyone,” he added.

Ten police personnel were injured in last week’s violence. The protesters damaged two buses and five bikes.

A Delhi Police constable was hit by an iron rod and two persons had snatched his gun too. They were arrested later.