Riots conspiracy: Police file charge sheet against Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam

New Delhi: Delhi police on Sunday filed a charge sheet against Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and Faizan Khan in the case of the conspiracy behind the Delhi riots.

This is a supplementary charge sheet. Earlier, the police had charged 15 persons in the same case but did not name Khalid, a former JNU student leader. The police have arrested at least 21 people, including the three named in the fresh charge sheet, for planning and orchestrating the riots.

In the charge sheet, the special cell of the police have claimed that the riots, which broke out in different parts of north east Delhi in February, were not spontaneous but was planned by some prominent voices of the anti-Citizen Amendment Act protests such as Khalid and Imam at the protest sites.

Among those who were named in the main charge sheet were former councillors Tahir Hussain and Ishrat Jahan. The police have invoked the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against the arrested accused in the case. The main charge sheet lists statements by protected witnesses, WhatsApp messages of different anti-CAA groups, call detail records and other evidence to support charges against the accused.

Delhi police’s additional spokesperson Anil Mittal said the 930-page supplemetary charge sheet against the three accused — Khalid, Imam and Khan — was filed on Sunday in the court of Amitabh Rawat, special judge, Karkardooma courts. The matter is listed for hearing on Monday.

Mittal said the trio were charged under sections of UAPA and IPC sections of criminal conspiracy,.murder, attempt to murder, rioting, among others. Police said they have also been charged under sections of illegal possession of arms and under Prevent of Damage to Public Property Act (PDPPA), the officer said.

On Friday, a Delhi court extended the judicial custody of Khalid and Imam till November 23.

Faizan Khan, who was granted bail last month, was arrested by Delhi Police on July 29, and is alleged to have been part of the conspiracy hatched by a group of prominent anti-CAA activists, local politicians, student activists and some local residents in February 2020.

Khan had allegedly supplied and activated the SIM card registered fraudulently in the name of one Abdul Jabbar, but had given it to Tanha and was used by Safoora Zargar. Tanha and Zargar have also been arrested in the case of the conspiracy behind the Delhi riots.

The communal clashes had started in north east Delhi on February 23 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 400 injured.

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