Delhi riots case: Former JNU student leader Umair Khalid arrested

The special cell of the Delhi Police on September 13 arrested former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Umar Khalid on the charges of stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

He was arrested for his alleged role in the riots that broke in north-east neighbourhoods of the Delhi in February 2020.

Umar Khalid was earlier charged under the UAPA in another case related to the riots.

In April, his name was recorded in the FIR registered in connection with the northeast Delhi riots that broke out in February following a series of protests held in favour and against the contentious citizenship amendment act (CAA). His mobile phone was also seized by the police.

“After 11 hours of interrogation, the Delhi Police Special Cell has arrested Umar Khalid as a conspirator in the Delhi Riots case. The fairy tale narrative that DP (Delhi Police) has been spinning and criminalising protests in the garb of investigating riots, finds yet another victim,” United Against Hate, an activist group whose member is Umar Khalid, said in a statement.

He will be produced to the court on Monday.

In August also, he was summoned by the Special Cell and faced grilling for three hours.
Violence in parts of north-east Delhi from February 23 to 26- after weeks of protests against the CAA and the National Register of Citizens- had left over 50 dead and hundreds injured, many with gunshot wounds.

Around 108 police personnel received injuries and two died.

The Delhi police said that it was investigating the role of all individuals who allegedly took part in the riots and were a part of a larger conspiracy in inciting communal violence and hatred among communities.

Umar Khalid’s arrest comes amid a political row over CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury and Swaraj Abhiyan chief Yogendra Yadav being named in a disclosure statement of an accused in the Delhi riots.

So far police have arrested 1,575 people in 751 cases.

Over 250 chargesheets have been filed in the riots related cases in which 1,153 accused have been charge-sheeted