Delhi Riots: Police Arrest Former JNU Student Umar Khalid Under UAPA

NEW DELHI: Umar Khalid, the former student of Jawaharlal Nehru University was arrested by the special cell of the Delhi Police for his alleged involvement in the riots that broke out in February this year in the national capital. According to the sources, police are likely to file a charge sheet against him and he'll be produced before a court in Delhi on Monday.

The arrest of Umar Khalid comes after Delhi Police have named CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav, economist Jayati Ghosh, Delhi University professor and activist Apoorvanand, and documentary filmmaker Rahul Roy as co-conspirators in connection with the Delhi riots.

United Against Hate, an activist group said in a statement on Sunday, "After 11 hours of interrogation, the Delhi Police Special Cell has arrested Umar Khalid as a conspirator in the Delhi Riots case. The fairy tale narrative that Delhi Police has been spinning and criminalising protests in the garb of investigating riots, finds yet another victim."

On March 6, a FIR had been registered against Khalid based on information given by an informer to Sub-Inspector Arvind Kumar of the Crime Branch's narcotics unit.

That FIR states: “Khalid allegedly gave provocative speeches at two different places and appealed to the citizens to come out on the streets and block the roads during the visit of US President Donald Trump to spread propaganda at the international level about how minorities in India are being persecuted.”