Delhi violence: Five accused booked under stringent National Security Act

The Delhi Police has booked five of the accused in connection with the communal violence in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri under the stringent National Security Act (NSA), which allows detention up to a year without any charge. The action comes after Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s direction to the police to take “strict action” against the “rioters” to avoid a repeat of the 2020 Delhi riots.

35-year-old Aslam — the main accused — is among those booked under the NSA. The others are Salim, Imam Sheikh or Sonu, Dilshad and Aheed.

On Monday, Shah had dialled Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana and had called for strict action against those responsible for the violence in northwest Delhi two days ago in which many, including policemen, were injured.

Two dozen suspects, including three juveniles, have been arrested in the last two days in connection with the clashes, where bullets were also fired. Of them, five have been charged under the NSA which empowers the government to detain people for months if the authorities are satisfied that they are a threat to national security or to prevent them from disrupting public order.

AAP, BJP trade charges

The tussle between the AAP and the BJP over the political affiliation of one of the ‘masterminds’ of the Jahangirpuri clashes intensified on Tuesday, with the ruling party in Delhi now calling the accused a BJP leader.

In a press conference, AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that Md Ansar, one of the ‘masterminds’ of the April 16 clashes, was an “active BJP leader”. The party also shared on social media some pictures in which Ansar is seen wearing a saffron cap and the BJP’s scarf, and seems to be attending some political events with other leaders of the BJP.

“With these pictures, the dirty and ugly face of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stands exposed before the country. These pictures make it clear that the riots in Jahangirpuri had been engineered by the BJP,” Bharadwaj said.

Notably, the BJP earlier claimed links between the Jahangirpuri violence accused with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). “The mastermind of the attack in Jahangirpuri — Md Ansar — has been found to be a worker of AAP. There are evidences of this in the form of photographs. Tahir Hussain who was the mastermind of the Delhi riots in 2020 was also an AAP councilor. Is AAP running a riots factory?” Manoj Tiwari, BJP MP from northeast Delhi, had said.

Meanwhile, the AAP also hit out at the Delhi police for being “hand in glove with the BJP” and acting as per the “script” prepared by the saffron party. Before the violence broke out, both sides of the mob, including those taking out the Hanuman Jayanti procession, were carrying firearms, swords and other weapons, but the police present there remained mute spectators, Bharadwaj claimed.