Chargesheet skips hate speeches by BJP leaders

New Delhi: The latest chargesheet filed in connection with the Delhi riots has made no mention of incendiary speeches by BJP leaders and laid the blame squarely on those protesting against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act or CAA at the time.

In a 2,000-word chronology of events -- starting from December 13 and continuing till February 25 -- the police have nowhere mentioned the hate speeches by BJP leaders including Kapil Mishra.

The document only mentions the role of the protesters, students of Jamia Milia University, those gathered at Shaheen Bagh and other places where protests against the CAA were on.

Kapil Mishra, known for his communal and incendiary tweets, had led a rally on February 23 in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Act in northeast Delhi's Maujpur area. The spot was near Jaffrabad, where a protest was on.

At the rally, he gave an "ultimatum" to the Delhi Police to clear the roads in the area, Else, he said, they would have to hit the streets.

Hours later, clashes had broken out between the two groups, which spiraled over the next few days. Around 50 people, most of them Muslims, died in the violence.

Kapil Mishra's comments had drawn a barrage of criticism and the Delhi High Court questioned the police over their inaction against him and the other leaders and ordered that cases be registered against him, Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma.

In one of the hearings, Justice S Muralidhar had been furious and asking the police: "Why shouldn't there be an FIR against these four BJP leaders... including Union Minister, MP and MLA?

You showed alacrity in registering FIRs for damages to property and arson. Why aren't you registering it for these speeches? Don't you even want to acknowledge the presence of a crime?"

The judge was transferred soon after, which led to another controversy.

Shahrukh Pathan, who was seen aiming a gun at a policeman during the riots in Delhi in February, along with four others has been found to be a part of a deep-rooted conspiracy which triggered the communal riot at Maujpur Chowk.

Going by the First Information Reports and arrests made by the police so far, the conspirators are activists or Muslim student leaders linked to the anti-CAA protests.

So far, the police have filed 783 First Information Reports and 70 chargesheets in the riots cases. More are expected in the coming days in view of the 90-day deadline.