It was a cold day in January 2022 when 40-year-old Tahir finally came out of Mandoli Jail and saw his children and wife, two years after spending his time behind bars for the crimes he probably never committed.
“When I was coming out, I didn’t know whether to be happy or sad. Happy for finally attaining freedom and sad for the trauma that me and my family had to bear during my incarceration,” said Tahir, remembering the daunting days of his life.
Bloodshed, arson, rioting, looting shops and properties destroyed properties—all this happened not in a hinterland but in the national capital.
The communal violence struck the northeast part of Delhi in February 2020 during an anti-CAA [Citizenship (Amendment) Act] protest and tore apart the social fabric of the city. As many as 54 people were killed—with over 40 belonging to the minority community.
‘We’ve lost everything’
Pankaj is a 34-year-old man now. He led a happy life with his wife and three kids four years ago. Today, his wife is no more, as he claims that she passed away of depression after he was sent to jail.
“On March 9, 2020, I was picked up by the Delhi Police from my residence in connection with the riots. The next day, I was handed over to the Crime Branch, which later arrested me in a case of rioting, murder, etc etc... When I saw the FIR, it had a line of IPC sections. I was asked to sign it, but I refused. They told me this was nothing and I would be set free within some time. I never thought that this ‘sometime’ would cost me four years of my life,” Pankaj told this newspaper.
Finally, in August 2023, Pankaj was released on bail. When asked on what basis he was arrested, Pankaj said, “They caught me based on my mobile location. Yes, I was there near my house but was not part of any group. I still remember February 24, when a mob of rioters near Chand Bagh flyover were raising religious slogans. I was scared. I had three children; the youngest was just a year old,” he said.
Recalling one incident where a Mosque cleric saved a Hindu boy after a mob of rioters chased him, Pankaj said, “Those were terrible times. The boy was stabbed, but he ran away and entered a mosque where the cleric kept him hidden, and his life was saved."
The memory of February 25, 2020, remains vivid in Tahir’s (mentioned in the first paragraph) mind as if it occurred only yesterday. He reflects on that fateful day as the one that turned his life upside down because he had to spend two years in jail for a crime that he did not commit.
His presence was captured on the CCTV footage of the area, based on which the Delhi police filed an FIR against him for charges of arson and rioting. “When the riot erupted, I was working at my brother’s shop in Mustafabad, an area affected by the riot. I heard a commotion on the main street, prompting me to move towards it. Upon reaching the main road, I witnessed people burning vehicles and pelting stones. Overwhelmed by fear, I quickly retreated and headed home,” he said.
Two months later, the police knocked on his doors for an informal inquiry. Tahir mentioned that, at that time, he was unaware that the police would arrest him. However, things progressed opposite to his expectations. Then, Tahir had to spend two years imprisonment until he was proven innocent in front of the law.
“In the two years of imprisonment, the major loss that my family incurred was the education of my kids. In 2019, I enrolled my daughter and son in a good school for their education. However, all my savings were spent in my legal fight, leading to their education suffering,” Tahir said.
Tahir’s wife, Razia, stood by her husband during those turbulent times. She expressed that the past two years had been challenging for her. “Suddenly, all the responsibilities fell on my shoulders. I had to manage the legal case and care for my family. Those were the depressing days, and I had to resort to sleeping pills just to get some rest,” Razia asserted.
Similar to Tahir, Irshad also had to spend 13 months behind bars until he was proven innocent in a Delhi court. Irshad, aged 21, stated that he was arrested based on his mobile location, questioning how it could have been any different if the riot had occurred near his residence.
Despite everything, Irshad still believes that time will heal this wound and wishes that the date of 25th February should be erased from all calendars.
HOW IT BEGAN
On December 12, 2019, the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), passed by both Houses of Parliament, became an Act after getting the accord of then President Ram Nath Kovind. However, its passage sparked widespread protests, which first began in Assam and later spread to other States, including Delhi.
By amending the Indian Citizenship Act, CAA aims to provide an accelerated pathway for grant of citizenship to migrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist, and Christian communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who had entered India before 2014, in fear of religious persecution in their own country. However, the Act categorically excluded the people belonging to the Muslim community.
Shaheen Bagh in southeast Delhi became the epicentre of the protest against the act. Despite Delhi experiencing severe cold days, the women sat on an indefinite protest at Shaheen Bagh.
The anti-CAA protests were also organised in Hauz Rani, Jama Masjid, Darya Ganj, Seelampur, Nabi Kareem, Shastri Nagar, Sadar Bazar, where a substantial Muslim population resides.
The sustained sit-in, leading to a roadblock (chakka-jaam) by seemingly amorphous but bonded by undercurrents of anti-CAA groups, had caused hardships for the daily commuters.
Around 1,000 protesters, including women, began a sit-in protest near the Jaffrabad metro station on February 22, 2020. A day later, BJP leader Kapil Mishra and his supporters reached a protest site at Maujpur Chowk and allegedly threatened to “take matters into his own hands if the police failed to disperse the protesters” from the Jaffrabad and Chand Bagh areas in the next three days.
Later, clashes broke out between the anti and pro-CAA demonstrators in Karawal Nagar, Maujpur Chowk, Babarpur, and Chand Bagh. Vehicles were gutted and shops were destroyed. The police used lathi charge and tear gas to disperse the crowd, but the violence continued unabated, with rioters attacking the people and property.
As many as 53 people, two-thirds belonging to the Muslim community, were killed in the violence. The dead also included over a dozen Hindus. Reports indicated that the death was due to a shot, stabbing or fire injury.
Several bodies were also found in open drains. As the violence ended, hundreds of wounded were languishing at hospitals. Two years later, a report published independently by the committee of retired judges and bureaucrats recognised that the violence should not be seen only within the limited prism of that fateful week in February 2020 but the tragic culmination of a deliberate build-up of polarisation between the two communities.
The probe
The Delhi Police has registered more than 750 FIRs in connection with the communal clashes.Around 24 FIRs were registered in New Usmanpur police station, 10 in Shastri Nagar, 118 in Golkulpuri, 76 in Dayalpur, 153 FIRs in Khajuri Khas, 91 in Karawal Nagar, 5 in Sonia Vihar, 137 in Bhajanpura, 26 in Welcome and 79 FIRs in Jafrabad.
Three Special Investigation Teams (SITs) were formed under the Crime Branch 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. In contrast, the northeast district investigated the remaining cases.
The investigation teams used video analytics and a facial recognition system (FRS) to analyze CCTV footage to identify the accused, retrieve deleted data from electronic devices, use geo-location to ascertain the accused’s presence, and use drone mapping for crime scene reconstruction.
DNA fingerprinting, e-Vahan database, facial recognition, fund flow analysis, and forensic teams comprising physical, chemical, biological and ballistic analysis of videos and photographs through open sources were also used to investigate the cases.
Nearly 2,000 people were arrested by the police in the following months as it continued the investigation. But were all proven guilty? The answer is no.
The Courts have sometimes pulled up the Delhi Police for its “shoddy probe” into the riots cases. Till now, of all, 47 people have been convicted while more than 180 have been acquitted. Around 1,700 accused are currently out on bail.
Life is no longer the same for those whospent a couple of years behind bars. To know more about their lives, this newspaper spoke to a few such people who were either acquitted or had their bail granted by the courts.
Why such delay?
Advocate Salim Khan, who has been handling over 100 cases related to the Northeast Delhi riots, says that in several FIRs, the police have named multiple accused and the same accused in different FIRs, which prevents the person from easily obtaining bail.
Ninety per cent of Salim’s clients come from economically disadvantaged families. “If you scrutinize their work profiles, you’ll find that most of them are auto-rickshaw drivers, tenants, laborers, and, most importantly, are illiterate. Their understanding of legal procedures is minimal, making it challenging for us to communicate effectively with them,” Salim added.
Salim underscored that these individuals were financially incapable of meeting the prescribed bail bond amounts imposed by the court for the release of their family members. Consequently, they undertook crowdfunding initiatives within their communities to amass the requisite funds and satisfy the court’s bail conditions.
How is it today?
Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast Delhi) Joy Tirkey says that they have made several efforts in the past four years to build a bond of brotherhood between both communities and the situation on the ground is now peaceful.
“I am not new to the northeast district as I am posted here as the DCP, but before that, I served the Crime Branch for 14 years. Since the 2020 riots, we have been closely associated with the northeast district. I had handled several cases of riots that SIT of the Crime Branch was probing, and still, SIT is with me,” the DCP said. He said that if one area in Delhi needs actual ground-level policing, then it is the northeast district.
“The presence of police on the ground is of utmost importance. Not only is the northeast district prone to crime, but it is also a communally sensitive area. The cases of communal clashes were registered in 12 of the 14 police stations of the district,” he said.
He said the police are in constant touch with the members of peace committees, and joint meetings with members of both communities are regularly undertaken to ensure that peace always prevails in the area.
Prominent persons
The cases about riots and the ‘larger conspiracy’ have been filed against Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Safoora Zargar, Asif Iqbal Tanha, Meeran Haider, former Congress councillor Ishrat Jahan, Shifa-Ur-Rehman, Gulshan Fatima, Khalid Sai, Shadab Ahmed, Tasleem Ahmed, Mohd. Saleem Khan, Athar Khan, Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal, and former Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain.
Clients from economically weaker families
Advocate Salim Khan, who has been handling over 100 cases related to the riots, says that in several FIRs, the police have named multiple accused and the same accused in different FIRs, which prevents the person from easily obtaining bail. Ninety per cent of his clients come from economically disadvantaged families. Salim underscored that these individuals were financially incapable of meeting prescribed bail bond amounts imposed by the court.
Courts pulled up cops for ‘shoddy probe’
DNA fingerprinting, e-Vahan database, facial recognition, fund flow analysis, and forensic teams comprising physical, chemical, biological and ballistic analysis of videos and photographs through open sources were also used to investigate the cases. Nearly 2,000 people were arrested in the following months as the police continued the investigation. But were all proven guilty? The answer is no. The courts have sometimes pulled up the Delhi Police for its “shoddy probe” into the riots cases.
