Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid 'key conspirators' in 2020 riots: Delhi Police to SC

New Delhi, Oct 30 (IANS) In a detailed counter affidavit filed before the Supreme Court opposing the bail pleas of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, the Delhi Police said on Thursday that both the student activists had premeditated and meticulously coordinated the conspiracy behind the 2020 Delhi riots.

Citing chats, witness statements, and call records linking their activities from December 2019 onwards, the affidavit described Umar Khalid as one of the "key conspirators" and a "mentor" to others, including Sharjeel Imam, for mobilising students, creating protest networks, and selecting demonstration sites that allegedly turned violent.

As per the reply document, the conspiracy was pre-planned to be executed at the time when US President Donald Trump was to make an official visit to India.

"This was done so as to draw the attention of 'international media' and to make the issue of CAA a global issue by portraying it as an act pogrom of Muslim community in India. The issue of CAA was carefully chosen as to serve as a 'radicalising catalyst' camouflaged in the name of 'peaceful protest'," the affidavit said.

It quoted another witness who said, "Mujhe ab yakeen ho gaya hai ki yah sab Umar Khalid aur uske sathiyon ka hi plan tha jiskaran February 23 ko Maujpur, Babarpur Metro Station par dange huye," directly attributing the Maujpur and Babarpur violence to the alleged planning of Khalid and his associates.

It further cited several protected witness statements, including one identifying Khalid's role in coordinating with the Delhi Protest Support Group (DPSG) and the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC).

"Umar Khalid and Nadeem Khan came to the AAJMI office (Jamia alumni association)... Umar said to Saiful Islam and Asif Iqbal Tanha that Jamia Coordination Committee be set up. Nadeem Khan then said that JCC will lead protests and 'chakka jaam' in Delhi," a witness' statement said.

The affidavit called Sharjeel Imam "a top conspirator under the tutelage of Umar Khalid" and said that he engineered the first phase of the Delhi riots between December 13 and December 20, 2019.

It pointed to Imam's WhatsApp chats dated December 7, 2019, in the group "Core Members MSJ", where he allegedly wrote, "agale haphte hamen kuchh karanaa hogaa (We must do something next week)", and messages to co-accused Arshad Warsi planning "mass level mobilisation".

The affidavit said that in a speech delivered on December 13, 2019, at Jamia Millia Islamia, Sharjeel Imam purportedly described the earlier violence as "just a spark" and urged the mob to escalate it through a "chakka jam" strategy across Delhi.

It also reproduced the contents of pamphlets allegedly distributed that day, calling on Muslims to "disrupt Delhi to draw international attention".

The Delhi Police claimed that Sharjeel Imam's "Chakka Jam" model found its first success in south-east Delhi's Shaheen Bagh.

"Sharjeel Imam with the help of radical student outfit "Students of Jamia" successfully created the 24x7 sit-in protest site at Shaheen Bagh and did chakka jam on Road No. 13," the affidavit said, adding that he later helped establish sites at Khureji, Seelampur and Jaffrabad.

On January 13, 2020, Imam allegedly met Nadeem Khan, "a close associate of top conspirator Umar Khalid", to discuss raising new protest sites, corroborated by WhatsApp chats and call detail record.

The affidavit described both the student activists as working in tandem -- Imam leading the first phase of violence in December 2019, and Khalid overseeing the planning of the February 2020 riots.

It added that by February, "there was not even an iota of doubt that (Sharjeel Imam) was very much a part of the larger conspiracy being hatched since long to carry out armed riots in Delhi, which resulted in arson, vandalisation, mass destruction, killings at the time of visit of President Donald Trump."

Summarising the scale of damage, the Delhi Police recorded 53 deaths, 530 injuries, including 106 police officials, and property loss exceeding Rs 21 crore.

The affidavit said that Khalid and Imam's actions "were not spontaneous reactions but deliberate, reflecting an overarching aim to destabilise the country and by setting up a global narrative of ethnic cleansing or pogrom of Muslim Community under the proposed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)".

Both Khalid and Imam, along with other accused, remain incarcerated under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

Their pleas for bail are pending before the Supreme Court.

A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N.V. Anjaria is set to take up the matter for hearing on October 31.

--IANS

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