On Thursday, the Delhi Police arrested a student leader of the Jamia Millia University for instigating violence during the anti-Hindu Delhi riots.
According to the reports, Meeran Haider, a 35-year-old a PhD student from Jamia Millia Islamia University, was arrested on Thursday in connection with rioting and criminal conspiracy pertaining to anti-Hindu riots in north-east Delhi that have claimed the lives of 53 people and left over 400 injured.
Meeran Haider is also the president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal youth wing’s Delhi unit. Meeran Haider is also a member of Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC). Haider is currently being interrogated at the special cell’s Lodhi Colony office.
According to the police, Haider, who is a resident of Jamia Nagar, was served a notice on March 31, asking him to join the probe in the case of rioting and criminal conspiracy that was registered by the crime branch after the north-east Delhi riots.
According to ToI journalist, Raj Shekhar Jha, Haider and his few associates had mobilised around 60 people to instigate riots in the national capital. He was also allegedly present in the Chand Bagh area during the riots. The accused had also run Whatsapp groups to incite riots in Delhi.
35-year-old Jamia student Meeran Haider is the head of the Delhi youth wing of RJD. He was adoing his MPhil in West Asian Studies, has MBA and an https://t.co/CPqzwXFDEw degrees.
— Raj Shekhar Jha (@rajshekharTOI) April 3, 2020
Police have found that he was running Whatsapp groups to incite riots in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/uEwf5bDTgB
“We arrested Haider in the case, as we have enough evidence to prove the charges against him. His role in funding the riots and anti-CAA protests is being probed,” the special cell officer associated with the probe said.
Joint commissioner of police of the special cell Neeraj Thakur confirmed the arrest of the scholar, Meeran Haider, but did not disclose details.
The suspect’s involvement in the conspiracy to instigate the riots, funding the violence and the agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Shaheen Bagh is also being probed, another officer reportedly said.
The Jamia Coordination Committee, which was forefront at instigating violence on the streets of Delhi during the anti-CAA protests, had extensively run a so-called ‘awareness campaign’ in Muslim-dominated areas of Delhi where anti-Hindu riots had erupted in Delhi.
Meanwhile, the Jamia Co-ordination Committee has reacted to the arrest of their leader and condemned the arrest of Haider while calling his arrests ‘shameful’.
“It is shameful that even in circumstances like these, Muslim voices are being targeted and witch-hunted by the state. JCC demands that he must be immediately released as all charges against him are baseless,” the JCC said.
On the day of US President Donald Trump’s visit to India in February, the national capital had witnessed large-scale violence under the garb of anti-CAA protests. The anti-CAA riots turned communal in Delhi resulting in severe violence on the streets of Delhi. The anti-Hindu riots that engulfed the streets of Delhi have resulted in deaths of around 53 persons and more than 250 people sustained injuries in the violence.
