Former JNU activist and main accused in 2020 Delhi riots case Umar Khalid told a Delhi court on Wednesday that the entire Delhi Riots conspiracy case against him was cooked up.
Umar Khalid says police 'fabricated evidence' to implicate him in 'larger conspiracy' case. Student leader Umar Khalid on Thursday claimed the Delhi police have “fabricated evidence” to implicate him in a 'larger conspiracy' case pertaining to the 2020 riots in north-east Delhi. Senior Advocate Trideep Pais appeared for Khalid and stated that there has been “blatant fabrication” of evidence against him and the witnesses have parroted whatever the investigation officer (IO) asked them to.
“Please see how blatant the fabrication of evidence is…Witnesses have supported whatever the IO has cooked up. If you honour sees the material against me, you will also come to the conclusion that this is a cooked-up case,” Pais said. He added that till now, there have been at least 17 instances when courts have held that the police fabricated evidence in Delhi Riots cases and that more than 90 people have been acquitted in different FIRs.Pais said the FIR, in which the prosecution claimed that 51 innocent people died, was unnecessary as these deaths are being probed separately.
"The deaths of those people are being investigated by 751 different FIRs," the senior counsel said. He alleged that the prosecution initially decided to implicate a person and then targeted him by fabricating documents and filing the chargesheet."You first decide 'isko pakadna hai' (this person has to be caught)... then reverse engineering takes place," Pais said."There are no linkages (with the actual offences) and we are far away from recovery," he added.
Pais cited various orders of trial courts regarding the 2020 riots in northeast Delhi where the judges were critical of the investigative agency while acquitting the accused persons.Pais was making his submissions for Khalid before Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Sameer Bajpai of the Karkardooma courts.The Court is hearing arguments on charge in the Delhi Riots conspiracy case.
The accused in the case are Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Safoora Zargar, Natasha Narwal, Asif Iqbal Tanha, Tahir Hussain, Khalid Saifi, Isharat Jahan, Meeran Haider, Gulfisha Fatima, Shifa-Ur-Rehman, Shadab Ahmed, Tasleem Ahmed, Saleem Malik, Mohd Saleem Khan, Athar Khan and Faizan Khan.The arguments in the case will continue on October 8.
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