Delhi Riots ‘Conspiracy’: 10-Day Police Custody for Umar Khalid

In custody, he will be confronted with 11 lakh pages of data, the public prosecutor said.

File image of former JNU student and activist Umar Khalid.

(Photo: The Quint)

After being arrested under ‘FIR 59’ post midnight on 14 September, former JNU student and anti-CAA activist Umar Khalid was produced before the Karkardooma court additional sessions judge Amitabh Rawat. After an application moved by the public prosecutor, Khalid has been sent to ten-days police custody.

Khalid has been charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), sedition, murder, attempt to murder and other sections of the Indian Penal Code.

An unedited excerpt from the court order:

The investigation in the present case of conspiracy for Delhi riots which took place in Delhi is continuing. Considering the nature of the case and role of the accused Umar Khalid that has surfaced so far regarding the conspiracy and involvement in anti-CAA/NPR/NRC protest with the support of several radical groups/organisations resulting in riots and the fact that the custodial interrogation has been sought of the accused Umar Khalid for confronting the huge technical data as well as material that has come during the investigation, I deem it fit that, for having an effective and proper investigation to allow the present application for seeking police custody remand of the accused Umar Khalid for a period of ten days.  

Accordingly, application is allowed and ten days police custody remand of the accused namely Umar Khalid is given to the IO.

While moving the application, seeking 10-day police custody, the public prosecutor had said that the police had ‘to confront Umar Khalid with data that runs into 11 lakh pages.’

Khalid’s lawyer, Trideep Pais, argued that there has never been an accusation of him not cooperating with the investigation. That the day he was called by Delhi Police Special Cell, he took a flight from Kolkata and was present for the first interrogation on 31 July.

Pais also looked at the application moved by the public prosecutor and argued that the document had no information to show why Khalid was needed in police custody for ten days.

The public prosecutor responded by saying that, since the case was of UAPA, no more information could be divulged as it is sensitive in nature.