The Police filed a chargesheet in the December 15, 2019 violence in New Friends Colony and at Jamia campus, and named Sharjeel Imam as an “instigator”.
New Delhi| On Tuesday, Jawaharlal Nehru University PhD student Sharjeel Imam was named an instigator in the chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police in connection with the violence that broke out in the national capital on December 15, 2019.
Imam was arrested on sedition charges last month. The Delhi Police has filed a charge sheet before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur.
Sharjeel Imam was named in the chargesheet after an accused in the December 15 violence had claimed that he was motivated by Imam’s speeches.
Along with the chargesheet filed in connection with the violence in New Friends Colony and at Jamia Millia Islamia, the police attached CCTV, call detail records and statements of over 100 witnesses as evidence against Sharjeel, reported news agency PTI.
No Jamia student has been named in the chargesheet.
Amid controversy over CCTV videos from Jamia, police has revealed that it is still examining the CCTV, call detail records and statements of over 100 witnesses attached as evidence.
Police are also examining the role of political party Popular Front of India in instigating the violence.
So far, 17 arrests have been made in the case, all are locals.
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The chargesheet has been filed under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon),149 (unlawful assembly), 186 (obstructing public servant), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant) and 427 (mischief causing damage) of the Indian Penal Code.
Protestors had torched four public buses and two police vehicles as they clashed with police in New Friends’ Colony near Jamia Millia Islamia during the demonstration against the CAA on December 15, leaving nearly 60 people including students, cops and firefighters injured.
The police used batons and teargas shells to disperse the violent mob. They entered the Jamia university campus, saying that rioters had taken shelter there.
However, the Jamia students had denied that they were involved in the violence and had alleged police brutality.
The police are probing two cases; the first relates to clashes between a section of protesters and police, when vehicles, including a bus, were set ablaze. The second case is regarding the police crackdown at Jamia.
Imam was arrested in Bihar on January 28 on sedition charges. A Delhi court sent him to one-day police custody in the case related to the violence at New Friends Colony. On Tuesday, his custody was extended till March 3, reported PTI.
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