Syed Ali Ahmed | India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI, MAY 1—With the court granting bail to one Suhel Khan, who was arrested in connection with the Jafrabad violence that broke out in northeast Delhi on February 23 over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the number of those released on bail in the cases pertaining to northeast Delhi violence has gone to eight.
Suhel Khan was granted bail by Additional Sessions Judge Soochi Lale of Karkardooma district court on Thursday.
Suhel Khan is the eight persons having been given bail in the case pertaining to northeast Delhi violence from February 23 to 26. Seven other persons who were earlier granted bail were Mohammad Arman, Shakir, Dilshad, Zakir, Bhure Khan, Razi and Shabbir. They were released on bail on March 27. They were arrested by the police from Dayalpur area and were sent to judicial custody on February 28.
Advocate Abdul Gaffar, who appeared for the seven accused, had argued that the allegations against the seven arrested were false and they did not cause any harm or damage to public property as claimed by the police. The police registered cases against them for offences under section 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly) of the IPC and relevant sections of Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
The violence had broken out when BJP leader Kapil Mishra along with a large number of his followers reached near the site in Jafrabad where anti-CAA protest was going on. According to Suhel Khan’s advocate Mehmood Pracha, the police registered the FIR against a large number of unidentified persons as also some persons named in the FIR from both sides but the police, surprisingly, arrested only Muslims, their number running into hundreds, in this case.
It is FIR No. 28 in which Suhel’s name was mentioned along with the names of several others. According to Advocate Pracha, those named in the FIR, besides Suhel, are Gulfishan, Natasha, Suhasini, Devangna, Kavita, Taroma Rao, Adnan, Tasleem, Shehbab, Guddoo Chaudhary, Shoaib, Faizan and Qasim Ansari.
Gulfishan was arrested a few days ago and is still in judicial custody. According to Pracha, a total of 48 FIRs were registered by the local police in Jafrabad.
Suhel Khan’s bail application was earlier rejected in the Karkardooma court as the court pointed out that the accused was arrested not only on charges of opposing Citizenship Amendment Act, National Register for Citizens, National Population Register but there was also “charges of conspiracy against the nation” mentioned against him. However, the Additional Session Judge, Soochi Lal, released him on bail after hearing the case.
Pracha said that as per FIR, the attack was done from both sides – supporters of CAA and those who protested against the CAA. But the action was taken against anti-CAA protesters only. The FIRs registered against Muslims, he said, are not based on facts.
