The Delhi Police have arrested 14 people for rioting with swords and pelting stones at the Hanuman Jayanti Shobha Yatra taking place at Delhi’s Jahangirpuri on Saturday evening. One accused Ansar, who has been named as the main conspirator for instigating the violence on the procession, was reportedly involved in mobilizing crowds for the blockade at Shaheen Bagh during the Anti-CAA protests in February 2020, BJP leader Kapil Mishra has alleged.
जहाँगीर पूरी से जितने दंगाई पकड़े जा रहे है ये सब लोग दिल्ली दंगो और शाहीन बाग में शामिल थे
— Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishra_IND) April 17, 2022
मुख्य अपराधी अंसार, यहां से औरतों को सड़कें बंद करवाने के लिए लेकर सीलमपुर, जफराबाद, शाहीन बाग़ जाता था
इसके कनेक्शन ताहिर हुसैन, खालिद सैफी, उमर खालिद सबसे रहे हैं : कपिल मिश्रा pic.twitter.com/LAcbi4AgYQ
Among the 14 accused arrested by Delhi Police, Ansar, the primary conspirator had also played a role in the anti-CAA protests in 2020. In a video released on his Twitter handle, BJP leader Kapil Mishra has alleged the connection between Ansar and others accused in the anti-CAA riots that broke in 2020 in Delhi. He said in the video, “In the Jihadi attack on the Hanuman Mandir Shobha Yatra, the Police have arrested the main conspirator Ansar with arms. Ansar and the other accused who have been arrested have a connection with the Delhi riots of 2020 and the Shaheen Bagh protests. This is the same Ansar who mobilized women from Jahangirpuri to Seelampur, Jaffrabad and Shaheen Bagh. He has connections with Taheer Hussain, Khalid Saifi and Umar Khalid.”
In the video, Mishra also requested that while the investigation of the ‘terrorist’ attack at Jahagirpuri is being carried out, the connections of the accused with the Delhi riots should also be probed.
This is Ansar. Delhi Police has arrested him as the main conspirator and instigator of rioting and clashes yesterday on the #HanumanJayanti procession at #Jahangirpuri of New Delhi. Cops say he was also involved in arranging crowds for anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh in 2020. pic.twitter.com/rDKAWdLbLz
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) April 17, 2022
Claims in Umar Khalid’s Bail denial order hint at the Shaheen Bagh protest connection
On March 31, 2022, Islamist Umar Khalid was denied bail while the Karkardooma court was cognizant of his involvement in the Delhi riots of 2020. The prosecution noted that while Khalid hatched a larger conspiracy for instigating violence in Delhi, he was also responsible for mobilizing women and children from Jahangirpuri to Jaffrabad via Shaheen Bagh in order to paint the protest being led by ‘women’. The prosecution while asserting that the protest was a pre-planned one that was given an ‘organic’ facade, intended attempts to stealthily transport people from Jahangirpuri, where stones were recently pelted at Hanuman Jayanti processions have been exposed.
In the Bail denial hearing, the court noted that two witnesses attested to the fact that Umar Khalid was demanding the involvement of Bangladeshi Muslims against CAA and NRC. The order mentions that On 23rd February 2020, the day when the violence at Shaheen Bagh started, three accused namely- Janhavi, Rahul Roy and Tabrej were involved in the clandestine transportation of a large number of people, mainly women and children from Jahangirpuri to Jafrabad via Shaheen Bagh. These women were then received by Natasha, Devangana and Gulfisha at Jafrabad who initially started stone pelting at police and others.
The role of Bangladeshi settlers in Jahangirpuri involved in the Hanuman Jayanti attack is being pondered over after sub-inspector Meda Lal has alleged that slogans were also raised in Bangla as the rioting took place.
