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Kanpur violence: Police zero in on WhatsApp chats in clash probe
Transcripts of conversations showed that Hashmi allegedly operated 141 WhatsApp groups, and the administrator of each of these were part of a coordination group.
Kanpur: Some followers of Muslim activist Zafar Hayat Hashmi, the main accused in the Kanpur violence case, allegedly undermined his call to postpone a bandh, and encouraged associates to delete videos of him asking to shift the protest by a day, according to police officials aware of the matter and transcripts of WhatsApp conversations reviewed by HT.
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Hashmi, who led a group called Jauhar Association Kanpur Team, was mobilising the city’s million-strong population for a protest against controversial remarks by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
On June 2, he was called to the Anwarganj police station, said ACP Anwargunj Mohd Akmal Khan, and asked to move the bandh from June 3 to 4 because Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind were scheduled to address a meeting 80km from Kanpur on the day of the protest. At the end of the meeting, according to Khan, Hashmi agreed to postpone the protest to June 5. He also issued an appeal to his followers on video.
But according to the transcripts of WhatsApp conversations, some of Hashmi’s followers allegedly asked supporters to not spread the video appeal asking for the protest to be shifted to June 4. The bandh went ahead.
By afternoon, violence broke out as protesters forced the closure of shops owned by Hindus. Police and protesters clashed in several parts of the city as people pelted stones, fired shots and lobbed petrol bombs. At least 30 people, including 10policemen were injured, and 1,000 people were booked. Hashmi was named as the mastermind of the conspiracy.
“Zafar Hayat Hashmi and three aides are the key conspirators behind the violence. It was pre- planned and we are looking if they have links with the Popular Front of India,” said Vijay Singh Meena, commissioner of police, Kanpur.
Transcripts of conversations showed that Hashmi allegedly operated 141 WhatsApp groups, and the administrator of each of these were part of a coordination group. At 7.49pm on June 2, the transcripts show, an associate of Hashmi allegedly shared a link of Hashmi’s video appeal made earlier that day after the meeting at the police meeting. At 7.51pm, a group admin asked the post to be taken down. “Why are you making this viral, it has only 21 views, don’t tell anyone,” said the admin, according to the transcripts.
At 7.56pm, the admin asked the video from all groups, and got a response in the affirmative. Other users, too, asked for the video to be deleted, showed the transcripts.
On June 3, the bandh started taking effect from the morning as many shopkeepers downed shutters. At 10.12am, 10.23am, and 10.25am, users allegedly posted videos of closed shops from various localities. One person said, “Those whose shops are open are shameless,” according to the transcripts.
At 11.03am, Hashmi posted a video of a closed market, show the transcripts. Throughout the day, he shared videos of various spots, expressing satisfaction at the scale of the bandh saying “Alhamdulillah” after he posted the video of Penchabagh and Becongunj markets.
The first video of clashes was shared on WhatsApp at 2.34pm. At 5.37pm, a television screen grab was shared. It quoted the police as saying that Hashmi was responsible for the violence.
At 6.51pm, Hashmi allegedly deleted a message and posted another one stating that he had cancelled the bandh after meeting with ACP Anwargunj and issued an appeal.
Admins started deleting messages at 7.01 pm At 7.44 pm, the groups fell silent.
The transcripts of the conversation are now part of the investigation by the special investigation team, headed by additional deputy commissioner of police Rahul Mithas.
A senior police officer part of the investigation said the WhatsApp chats clearly establishes a pattern. Hashmi merely completed a formality by deferring the bandh but internally he strongly went for the success of bandh, he said. “ We are going through the chats of all the groups,” he said.
Hashmi’s wife Zara Hayat said her husband was being framed by the police and the media. “He was at the house through the day, he has done nothing wrong and is innocent,” she said.
