Delhi riots: ‘Insider’ witness saw protesters being incited, say police

Officials familiar with the charge sheet and the investigation that went into filing it said the insider’s statement was crucial evidence and shows that some anti-CAA protesters such as Tanha and Khalid planned the riots by blocking roads.

Delhi police have attached the statement of an “insider” in the charge sheet on the February riots filed on Wednesday, in which this person claims to have been present in three meetings of anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protesters, during which he heard one of the accused , Asif Iqbal Tanha, saying “ bomb aur bullet chalengay” (there will be bomb and bullets).

In February, the national Capital was shaken by communal riots, the worst in at least three decades, with clashes between Hindu and Muslim groups in several parts of northeast Delhi. (PTI file photo)

The person added in the statement that former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Umar Khalid, whose arrest on Sunday triggered protests that the police investigation was biased and motivated , was also present in the meeting. A statement to the police under the Code of Criminal Procedure 161 can be used by investigating agencies, but is not admissible as evidence in court.

HT could not confirm if the insider has also given a similar statement under the Code of Criminal Procedure 164 before a judge, which is admissible evidence. No senior Delhi police officer was willing to comment on the record on the insider’s role.

Officials familiar with the charge sheet and the investigation that went into filing it said the insider’s statement was crucial evidence and shows that some anti-CAA protesters such as Tanha and Khalid planned the riots by blocking roads. HT has learnt that the insider told the police he was among the protesters; he claimed to have participated in three meetings on February 16,17 and 22 at the makeshift Chand Bagh office of the protesters, and heard Tanha asking all leaders to leave Jafrabad when violence escalated.

Tanha was among the 15 charged by the Delhi police for conspiring to orchestrate the riots. Tanha, according to police records, is a member of the Jamia Coordination Committee and the Students Islamic Organisation of India- – the student’s wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, which is not a banned organisation.

Apart from this, police have collected evidence in the form of WhatsApp chats, call data records, and a money trail to connect the arrested suspects such as Khalid, suspended Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain, activist Khalid Saifi, and student activists Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita to show that they orchestrated the violence.

In February, the national Capital was shaken by communal riots, the worst in at least three decades, with clashes between Hindu and Muslim groups in several parts of northeast Delhi. Houses were burnt and broken into, while vehicles were set on fire. Fifty-three people were killed and around 400 injured in the riots that started as clashes between pro- and anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act groups on the evening of February 23 near the Jafrabad metro station.

While a city court on Thursday took cognizance of the police’s charge sheet and will soon frame charges before beginning trial, Delhi police’s investigation has been criticised by many activists, civil society members, and former Indian Police Force officers.

Earlier this week, after the police arrested former JNU student Khalid, nine retired Indian Police Service officers wrote to Delhi’s police commissioner SN Srivastava, saying they were “pained” at the police implicating anti-CAA protesters while “letting off the hook all those who instigated violence and are associated with the ruling party”.

Denying allegations of Khalid’s involvement in the violence and accusing police of framing him, Khalid’s lawyer, Trideep Pais had told a court on Monday said that his client was against the citizenship law but was not present in Delhi during the riots.