The Delhi Police, in their supplementary chargesheet filed in the Northeast Delhi riots UAPA case, has claimed that former JNU student Umar Khalid played a leading role in “drawing sinister communal objectives at the cost of human lives” by delivering a speech at an anti-CAA protest rally at Amravati in Maharashtra. The third chargesheet was filed on February 24 at Karkardooma court against 18 accused, including Umar, JNU student Sharjeel Imam, activists Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, and former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain. Police have in multiple court hearings submitted that the Amrawati speech delivered by Umar on February 17, 2020, was seditious. Umar's lawyer, senior advocate Trideep Pais, had rejected these allegations, telling court that “certain news channels played an edited video of his speech, which they later claimed was taken from a tweet by Amit Malviya, head of the BJP’s IT cell”. Umar’s legal team has maintained that “a message of unity based on Gandhiji was given that day and that was termed as terror”. The chargesheet stated that the first application seeking to hold the programme was dismissed by authorities as they were “well aware of the rabid nature of Khalid and his propensities for inciting a breakdown of law and order”. For the second application, police claimed that “Umar Khalid’s name was cunningly omitted, passed the muster of democratic protest norms and was allowed by the authorities.” The chargesheet stated that “defying law and exposing his true intent and colors, Khalid appeared on stage… and delivered an incendiary speech. It was in this speech that Khalid had called upon for ‘hitting the streets’ during upcoming visit of US President Mr Trump”. “This act of playing fast and loose with law and administration clearly demolishes the plea of democratic, law abiding, protests being led by the accused, primarily Khalid,” the chargesheet reads. Police alleged that during analysis of new CCTV footage, it was found that two additional meetings were held on February 22 and 23, 2020, in Chand Bagh. Police stated that newly discovered conspiratorial meetings have attained “real meaning and proper context” as they were held to “introspect as to why the desired scale of violence was being elusive; and decisions were taken to take care of one tangible hurdle, that is CCTV cameras, which were acting as a psychological constraint”. Police have attached call recordings of activist Asif Iqbal Tanha to state that he was “wary of Crime Branch of Delhi Police which had sniffed something culpable. Thus, he was trying to minimise his footprints in those groups which he considered prone to infiltration Police have claimed that there are two new protected witnesses in this case.
