A court in Delhi on Wednesday raised concerns over the Delhi Police for its investigation into the violence that rocked parts of North East Delhi in February, The Quint reported. This came amid allegations from student activists that the police have been targeting them for mobilising peaceful anti-government protests since December 2019.
“Perusal of the case diary reveals a disturbing fact,” Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana said. “The investigation seems to be targeted only towards one end. Upon enquiry from Inspector Lokesh and Anil, they have failed to point out what investigation has been carried out so far regarding the involvement of the rival faction.”
The court urged the concerned authorities to “monitor” the inquiry to “ensure a fair investigation”, according to the website.
The judge made the observations while sending Jamia Millia Islamia student Asif Iqbal Tanha, charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, to judicial custody for 30 days. Tanha was arrested last week for the violence at Jamia on December 15 during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
The police told the court that his custody was required in the North East Delhi violence case to unearth the “entire conspiracy” and to confront him with the electronic data collected during investigation, according to PTI.
Advocate Sowjhanya Shankaran, representing Tanha, argued that he was falsely implicated in the case and had no role in the alleged criminal conspiracy. The police had claimed that he was a close associate of Umer Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Meeran Haider and Safoora Zargar who had been key organisers of the protests against the amended citizenship law. All of them have been blamed for the subsequent violence.
(Source: PTI, Scroll.in, The Quint)
