Umar Khalid, an ex student leader of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is likely to be produced before a Delhi Court on the 14th of September.
On the evening of the 13th of September, Umar Khalid was arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell.
Umar Khalid was arrested under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA.)
According to source, Mr. Khalid was summoned on the 12th of September and was arrested on the 13th of September.
A police source said, “He (Umar Khalid) had earlier been questioned on July 31, when his phone was seized. On Sunday, he arrived around 1 pm and was questioned during the day before being arrested in the evening.”
It is expected the police would file a chargesheet against him after being produced before a Delhi court.
The investigation against Umar Khalid began after a First Information Report (FIR) was filed against him on the 6th of March.
Arvind Kumar, a Sub Inspector (SI) of the Narcotics Unit of Crime Branch, provided some information against Mr. Khalid linking him to Delhi Riots 2020. Following the information, the Delhi police filed a FIR.
Mr. Kumar said an informer told him about the Northeast Delhi riots in February was a part of a “premeditated conspiracy,” which was planned by Umar Khalid and Danish Including two others.
The FIR read, “Khalid allegedly gave provocative speeches at two different places and appealed to the citizens to come out on the streets and block the roads during the visit of (the) US President Donald Trump to spread propaganda at the international level about how minorities in India are being persecuted.”
It further added, during the riots, firearms, petrol bombs, acid bottles, and stones were stored at homes in Kardampuri, Jafrabad, Chand Bagh, Gokulpuri, Shiv Vihar and nearby areas.
The FIR concluded with, “The co-accused, Danish, was given the responsibility to gather people from different places to take part in the violence… Women and children were made to block the roads under the Jafrabad Metro Station on February 23 to create tension amidst the neighbourhood people. The same day, schools of minority children (were) vacated under their premeditated conspiracy.”
Meanwhile, speaking on behalf of Umar Khalid, his lawyer Trideep Pais said allegations against Khalid were “completely false, fabricated and procured illegally through duress.”
Besides Umar Khalid many others protestors of JNU, the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) university and Aligarh University were arrested in connection with the Delhi riots under the UAPA Act.
In February 2020, a riot broke out in the North eastern regions of Delhi. The violence went on for 72 hours amid widespread protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizen (NRC) claimed 53 lives and left over 400 people injured.
Initially, the Delhi police were ingesting the February Delhi Riot. Later, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Special Cell took over the matter and started the probe.
Stay tuned for further updates.
