Former JNU student Umar Khalid arrested under UAPA in connection with Delhi Riots

Umar Khalid was summoned and questioned by the Delhi Police Special cell officers on Saturday and Sunday. He was questioned for around 10 hours and he will be produced before a Delhi court on Monday.

Umar Khalid, former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student has been arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for his alleged role in the anti CAA/NRC protests that lead to riots in north-east neighbourhoods of the national capital in February.

Umar Khalid was summoned and questioned by the Delhi Police Special cell officers on Saturday and Sunday. He was questioned for around 10 hours and he will be produced before a Delhi court on Monday.

The former JNU student has been questioned by the Crime Branch on September 2, for his alleged role in North-east Delhi riots. He was let off after the questioning.

IANS quoted Umar Khalid father, Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas as saying, “My son Umar Khalid has been arrested tonight at 11 p.m. by Special Cell, Delhi Police under UAPA. Police were questioning him since 1 p.m. He has been implicated in Delhi riots,”

The arrest of Khalid comes at a time when other prominent figures such as CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, Swaraj Abhiyan President Yogendra Yadav, Delhi University professor and activist Apoorvanand, economist Jayati Ghosh, and documentary filmmaker Rahul Roy have been named in a supplementary chargesheet by the Delhi Police in connection to the riots.

Umar Khalid’s name had also come up in the ‘disclosure statement’ made by Jamia Millia Islamia’s Gulfisha Fathima in which she named Umar along with others. In her statement, she said, “The crowd had started growing according to the plan, big leaders and lawyers started coming in to provoke and mobilise this crowd, including Omar Khalid, Chander Shekhar Ravan, Yogendra Yadav, Sitaram Yechury, and lawyer Mahmood Pracha.”

Similar, ‘disclosure statements’ were made by Pinjra Tod members Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal. All the three face charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The role of the Delhi Police has been questioned in the probe of these riot cases. However, Delhi Police issued a statement on Sunday in which they stated that ‘north-east Delhi riots probe to take a legal course at the appropriate time’ to all who have doubts and questions about the probe.

The North East Delhi riots was a communal clash that broke out between CAA/NRC supporters and protesters on February 24 left at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.