NEW DELHI: The northeast Delhi riots were a “well-calculated conspiracy” and “meticulously executed by the key conspirators”, said senior Delhi Police officials on Monday, as the capital marks the first year of the communal violence that broke out on February 23 and continued for the next two days, leaving about 53 people killed and 581 injured.
“The timings of the riots were almost meticulously executed by the key conspirators. They were aware of the fact that any communal violence in Delhi during (then) US President Donald Trump’s visit would immediately be picked up by the international media and would cause a huge embarrassment to the Indian government,” said a police official.
A total of 755 FIRs were registered in the communal riots, of which 400 cases have been solved and 349 charge sheets and 102 supplementary charge sheets have been filed.
The police have arrested 1,825 people so far, of which, the key conspirators include suspended AAP leader Tahir Hussain, who was allegedly involved in the murder IB staffer Ankit Sharma and funded the rioters, former JNU students’ leaders Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, Pinjra Tod activists Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, former Congress councillor Ishrat Jahan, among others.
Shahrukh Pathan, whose picture showing him pointing a gun at an unarmed cop, was arrested from Bareilly and is still in jail. His bail applications have been rejected by the court.
According to the police, the rioters had decided to resort to ’chakka jams’ at communally sensitive areas and attack police personnel to escalate the violence during Trump’s visit.
Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava recently said technology was used extensively to investigate over 750 cases related to the riots that led to the arrest of over 200 people.
He said three SITs were formed to investigate the cases. One of the cases was registered to unearth the conspiracy behind the riots, which was investigated by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police while the remaining cases were investigated by the northeast district.