Delhi court sends Jamia student accused of instigating CAA violence to custody till May 31

Delhi's Saket court on Sunday remanded Asif Iqbal Tahna, a Jamia student who is accused of violence in Jamia area of the national capital, to judicial custody till May 31. The Delhi Police arrested Tanha who has been identified as a student of B.A third year in the Persian language in Jamia Millia Islamia and also an active member of Students Islamic Organisation and produced him before the court. 

'A close associate of Umar Khalid...'

According to Delhi Police, Tanha is a key member of Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC) and also played an active role in organising a protest and is accused of instigating riots in Jamia in December last year. "He is a close associate of Umar Khalid, Sharjil Imam, Meeran Haider and Shafoora who had been the key members of anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests and subsequent riots," police said.

On December 15 last year, protesters torched four public buses and two police vehicles as they clashed with police in New Friends' Colony near Jamia Millia Islamia during a demonstration against the amended Citizenship Act, leaving at least 40 people including students, policemen and firefighters injured, officials had then said.

NIA summons scribe for questioning 

Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday summoned journalist Manash Jyoti Baruah for questioning in connection with the violence during the anti-CAA protests in December last year in parts of Assam and peasant leader Akhil Gogoi's alleged role in it.

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Baruah, a senior journalist with a Guwahati-based news website, received the NIA notice over the phone and was asked to appear before the agency on Friday at its Sonapur office on the outskirts of the city. "I received a call from an NIA official. He asked me to come tomorrow to answer some questions related to Akhil Gogoi and the anti-CAA movement. When I said I have not received any notice, he said the paperwork might take time and so he requested me over the phone," Baruah told PTI.

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On May 9, social activist Bhaben Handique was quizzed for hours by the NIA in connection with the case. The case is related to probing alleged "terrorist activity" by Gogoi, who is the adviser of KMSS. He was granted bail on March 17 by a special NIA court here after the premier investigating agency failed to file a charge sheet against him within the specified period of 90 days.

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(With PTI inputs)