In a recent revelation, it has come to light that Mohammad Arshad Warsi involved in the ISIS Pune module was also in contact with the conspirators of the anti-Hindu Delhi riots of 2020. Arshad Warsi, a terrorist in the guise of a Ph.D. student at Jamia, was arrested by the Special Cell on Monday, 2nd October for his involvement in various unlawful activities, including his association with ISIS (Pune module) and the planning of terrorist attacks within the country. Pertinently, Arshad Warsi’s name also featured in the Delhi anti-Hindu Riots chargesheets where he was constantly in touch with Sharjeel Imam.
Arshad Warsi played a significant role in orchestrating the conspiracy behind the communal violence during the CAA-NRC protests in Delhi. Moreover, his active involvement in setting up the protest site at Shaheen Bagh has also been revealed in the investigations. Mohammad Arshad Warsi was in touch with the 2020 Delhi riots accused Sharjeel Imam.
In the ISIS module case, the Delhi Police Special Cell arrested two more individuals, namely Shahnawaz, who also goes by the name Shafi Uzzama, and Mohammed Rizwan Ashraf. This development followed the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) announcement last month, offering a cash reward of Rs 3 lakh for any information leading to the capture of the primary suspect, Shahnawaz.
Shahnawaz is an engineer by profession and was wanted in the ISIS Pune module case. According to media reports, he is originally from Delhi but had moved to Pune. Two of his associates were arrested in a raid in July, while he managed to flee, returned to Delhi, and lived in a hideout.
It was Mohammad Arshad Warsi who facilitated the sheltering of Shahnavaz, a most-wanted terrorist with a reward of 3 lakh rupees on his head. Warsi was also involved in plotting terrorist attacks. Following the information revealed in the interrogation of Mohammad Arshad Warsi, the Delhi Police Special Cell managed to locate and arrest Shahnavaz.
Hailing from Jharkhand, Mohammad Arshad Warsi holds a BTech degree from Aligarh Muslim University and is presently enrolled in a PhD program at Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), where he specialises in ‘Islamic Principles in Management’. Notably, Warsi’s name has also surfaced in the Delhi Police chargesheet concerning the February 2020 anti-Hindu riots. The chargesheet indicates that Warsi was affiliated with ‘Students of Jamia (SOJ)’, a student organisation operating within JMI.
Immediately following their arrest on Monday, the police asserted that Warsi, Shahnawaz, and Ashraf had extensively consumed online information related to various forms of religious indoctrination and had strategised for potential “attacks” within India. The police report that they have confiscated bomb-making manuals, along with pistols, cartridges, basic plastic materials, and pipes from Shahnawaz’s concealed location in Delhi.
Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) H.S. Dhaliwal said, “They had conducted reconnaissance in western and southern India to conduct controlled trial explosions. They are very educated and Shahnawaz was sent PDF documents by their Pakistan-based handlers on bomb-making and how to increase the potency of the bombs.”
Mohammad Arshad Warsi had consistently posted on Facebook regarding the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi. Terrorist Arshad revealed during questioning that he had held radical beliefs since 2016. He had been acquainted with Shahnavaz for a considerable period, and both were actively involved in plotting terrorist attacks together.
What does the 2020 riots conspiracy charge sheet say about Mohammad Arshad Warsi and Sharjeel Imam?
The chargesheet, which spans a substantial 2,700 pages and pertains to FIR 59/2020, notably allocates nearly 700 pages to detailing the chronology of the plotted conspiracy. What stands out in the chargesheet is the Delhi Police’s impressive ability to unearth the conspiracy’s timeline, tracing it all the way back to December 5, 2019, just one day after the Citizenship Amendment Bill was introduced in both houses of Parliament.
According to the chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police, after CAB was tabled in both houses of the parliament on the 4th of December, on the 5th of December a group called Muslim Students of JNU (MSJ) was formed by Sharjeel Imam who was the main member of the group and its creation was also his brainchild.
The chats that been procured by the Delhi police after a perusal of the phones confiscated from Sharjeel and other accused, it was revealed that Sharjeel Imam and Arshad Warsi (a student of Jamia) were in constant touch and Sharjeel was also in touch with “radical communal group” Students of Jamia (SOJ).
On the 6th of December, pamphlets which were written by Sharjeel Imam himself were distributed in the Jama Masjid area by the MSJ group. This fact was revealed by the chats recovered between Sharjeel Imam and Mohammad Arshad Warsi. The pamphlets were communal in nature and essentially aimed to incite hate in the Muslim community by invoking the Supreme Court decision in the Ram Janmabhoomi case.
Some of the pamphlets read “Law of Allah above all else” and “The command of Allah is above every law”. The pamphlets that were distrusted in mosques on the 6th of December also had a call to join the protest called by ‘United Against Hate’ at Jantar Mantar in large numbers and to “mobilise mob”.
The charge sheet says, “Sharjeel Imam revealed his intention of joining the protest of United Against Hate, at Jantar Mantar on 7 December 2019 in his chats to Arshad Warsi of SOJ.” The chargesheet includes screenshots of this conversation, revealing that Imam had reached out to Mohammad Arshad Warsi for the purpose of “mass mobilisation” in connection with the Delhi riots. Details of the same can be read here.
