Responding to the allegations, Salman Khurshid said: “If you do garbage collection, you get a lot of filth. Any garbage can be put to support statements made by individuals.
Former Union Minister and top Congress leader Salman Khurshid has been named in the latest chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police in the Delhi riots case for giving ‘provocative speeches’, NDTV reported.
Filed by Delhi Police on September 17, the 17,000-page chargesheet contains a statement from a witness saying: “Umar Khalid, Salman Khurshid, Nadeem Khan… they all used to give provocative speeches (at anti-CAA/NRC sit-ins in Delhi) and people used to get mobilised.”
The police, however, have not mentioned the exact nature of the alleged provocative speeches. The police have also concealed the identity of the witness (known as a protective witness). The witness, according to the police, was part of the core team of conspirators accused of plotting the riots.
Responding to the allegations, Salman Khurshid said: “If you do garbage collection, you get a lot of filth. Any garbage can be put to support statements made by individuals. I would be intrigued to know what is a provocative statement.”
“Has (the witness) not lied by saying I made provocative statements. Have the police acted on the statement? If they have not acted on it what is the value of the statement,” the Congress leader added.
Salman Khurshid is the highest ranking politician named in police chargesheets so far. Earlier, former JNU student leader and vocal critic of the Modi govt Umar Khalid was arrested under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act by Delhi Police.
He was earlier named in a Delhi Riot case chargesheet along with three others including CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury and economist Jayati Ghosh. Umar Khalid was questioned for over 11 hours and later arrested.
On September 2, Umar was questioned by the Crime Branch of Delhi Police in connection with the Delhi riots. Earlier, the police had registered a case against Omar under the Unlawful Activities (Prohibition) Act (UAPA) in another case related to the riots. The Crime Branch of Delhi Police also questioned Umar Khalid in the case of alleged conspiracy behind the riots. His mobile phone was also seized by the police.
Communal riots broke out in north-east Delhi on 24 February following violence between opponents and supporters of the amended Citizenship Act (CAA) in which at least 53 people were killed and around 200 were injured.
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