Charges filed over riots in Maujpur and Kardampuri

New Delhi:

Three

more

chargesheets

pertaining to

major violence

in

Kardampuri

and

Maujpur

during the riots in

northeast Delhi

on February 24 were

filed

by police on Tuesday.

Police claimed that during investigation they identified conspirators, instigators and rioters who had hatched the plot to commit large-scale violence. “The conspirators caused disruption by spreading misinformation on Citizenship (Amendment) Act and carrying out chakka jam on arterial roads, which triggered communal riots,” police said. “While investigating the chronology of events since the enactment of CAA, it was found that the riots were not impromptu but conspired with intent to create communal strife and malign the image of the country under the garb of democratically opposing the Act,” police added.

In the case of a man named Vinod being killed and dozens injured at Maujpur Chowk, police concluded that two communal groups had clashed there around 11am on February 24. While one group was supporting CAA and NRC, the other opposed it. “Initially, the protest was peaceful, but it soon became violent and led to stone pelting, brickbatting, arson, firing and sabotage from both sides. This led to injuries to several people and policemen creating an atmosphere of fear among the public,” said police. Five people, including Shahrukh Pathan, were arrested in this case. Pathan is the main accused in another case in which he was caught on camera shooting at a cop, Deepak Dahiya, in full public view.

The second chargesheet on Kardampuri violence said that around 4.30pm that day, communal riots broke out at the pulia in the area. Mohammad Furkan and four others sustained gunshot injuries in the ensuing riot. Furkan later died of the injuries. Seventeencops were also injured in stone pelting by the mob. Kardampuri pulia had CCTV cameras, but most of them were damaged by the rioters on February 23 and 24. However, video footage recovered from nearby areas led to the arrest of the four accused now named in the chargesheet.

The third case pertains to the violence that erupted near a dispensary in the area on February 25. One Deepak (32), an e-rickshaw driver, was lynched by the mob. Four accused were arrested and charged with the crime.