On June 21, Delhi Police’s Special Cell said they had arrested Mohammed Ayaz, one of the main conspirators of the murder of Head Constable Ratan Lal during the anti-Hindu Delhi Riots of 2020. He was arrested from Karnataka on June 17. Ayaz was absconding for over three years. 53-year-old Ayaz is a resident of Chand Bagh in the Karawal Nagar Area. There was a reward of Rs 1 lakh announced by the Delhi Police on information leading to his arrest. He was arrested from a village in the district Chikkaballapur of Karnataka.
Notably, during the February 24, 2020 riots, a Muslim mob killed Ratan Lal while then-Assistant Commissioner of Police Gokulpuri Anuj Kumar and then-Deputy Commission of Police Shahdara Amit Sharma sustained serious injuries.
In a statement, Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) HGS Dhaliwal said in January 2020, Ayaz and his brother Khalid along with others, initiated protests at Chand Bagh against CAA/NRC in the line of Shaheen Bagh protests. On February 23, a secret meeting was held in Ayaz’s house’s basement. In that meeting, they decided to bring iron rods, bricks and other materials to block the road as then-US President Donald Trump was scheduled to visit Delhi. The aim was to gain international media attention.
CP Dhaliwal said, “Thereafter, as per pre-planned conspiracy, the rioters blocked the road leading to Jafrabad Metro Station and consequently, different groups started rioting in various parts of North-East and Shahdara Districts of Delhi and the same continued till February 26, 2020,, resulting in the death of over 50 people, injury to hundreds of persons and huge loss of government and private properties. Over 750 cases were lodged in different police stations of Shahdara and North-East districts of Delhi in this regard.”
He added, “A huge mob gathered at the Chand Bagh protest site in the morning of February 24, 2020, and attempted to block the main Wazirabad Road. However, when the police team tried to stop them, Ayaz, his brother Khalid and other rioters started pelting stones and attacked the police party causing the death of Delhi Police Head Constable Ratan Lal.”
As Ayaz was absconding, the police were keeping a close watch on the close contacts of Khalid and Ayaz. The technical and manual surveillance revealed they kept changing their hideouts. At one point, they were spotted in Manipur, where efforts were made to arrest them. The Police noted Ayaz’s location in Bengaluru in the first week of June 2023.
CP Dhaliwal said, “It was further revealed that he was in search of a suitable hideout in the rural area of Dibburahalli, around 100 km from Bengaluru. Following the trail, a team located him in the area of Dibburahalli, and he was nabbed on June 17.”
Ratan Lal Murder
A crazed Muslim mob mercilessly lynched Ratan Lal while he was trying to do his duty on the main Wazirabad Road, Chand Bagh. The 42-year-old police officer lived with his family in Amrit Vihar, Burari, Delhi.
Lal belonged to Fathepur Tihwali village in Rajasthan’s Sikar district. His wife and three children survive Lal. The Sikar resident had joined the Delhi Police in the constable post in 1998. He married a Jaipur resident in 2004. Ratan Lal was posted at Gokulpuri Police Station. He lived with his family in a house in Delhi’s Burari area.
A mob attacked police officers stationed in Maujpur, Delhi’s North-East area, on February 24, 2020. Ratan Lal died from a bullet wound, according to the autopsy report. A video surfaced in March 2020 where a violent mob of rioters can be seen attacking the Delhi Police officers with stones and sticks.
The Special Investigation Team of Delhi Police had in June 2020 filed a 1,100-page charge sheet in the case of the murder of Ratan Lal and deadly attacks by rioters on IPS Amit Sharma and IPS Anuj Kumar. At least 17 accused had been named in the charge sheet. The police stated that the riots were engineered in Delhi through a conspiracy to malign the country’s image.
