AAP slams Delhi LG for shabby investigation into Delhi riots: 'Only 35 chargesheets filed'

Lashing out at the Delhi L-G over the shambolic investigation of the Delhi riots, AAP MLA Atishi Marlena on Saturday, alleged that the BJP and Delhi police did not want the investigation to be done. Pointing out that only 35 out of 759 cases had their charge sheets in the past 1.5 years, Marlena concluded that hence the LG removed special prosecutors appointed by CM Arvind Kejriwal. The Delhi HC recently noted 'History would remember Riots 2020 as police's failure to probe properly'.

AAP lashes out at Delhi police & LG

She added, "Courts have slammed Delhi Police on Delhi Riots. Delhi has so many CCTV cameras, how come you don't have footage to support your witnesses? How could you frame a 65-year-old who is a victim of riots? The police investigation shows total non-application of mind".

Delhi police slammed by HC

A Delhi Court on Thursday discharged suspended AAP's Tahir Hussain's brother Shah Alam and two others in a case registered against them in connection with the riots that broke out in Delhi in February last year. While discharging the accused who are in their twenties, the court observed, "when history will look back at the worst communal riots since partition in Delhi, it is the failure of investigating agency to conduct a proper investigation by using latest scientific methods, will surely torment the sentinels of democracy.  The sort of investigation conducted depicts that the investigating agency has merely tried to pull the wool over the Court’s eyes and nothing else".

He added, "After investigating this matter for so long, the police has shown up only five witnesses in the matter; one is the victim, other is Constable Gyan Singh, one Duty Officer, a formal witness and the IO. The case appears to have been solved merely by filing this charge sheet without any real effort being made to trace out the eyewitnesses, real accused persons and technical evidence". Many such cases have been pulled up for insufficient proof of evidence. 

Delhi riots

Clashes began between CAA supporters and anti-CAA groups in Northeast Delhi on February 23, as both camps resorted to stone-pelting after Shaheen Bagh-like protests started in Jaffrabad and Chand Bagh. The situation deteriorated even as Delhi Police was present at the spot as houses, shops, and buses were burnt. While the Home Minister reviewed the situation on February 24  and 25 - as US President Donald Trump visited India, the violence increased killing 53 and injuring over 200, as per official figures. The Delhi police - which has filed over 111 FIRs, naming 650 people - have been heavily criticised by activists, Opposition leaders - pointing out BJP leader Kapil Mishra's inflammatory speech, right before the riots began.