Police claim locals first opposed the Shaheen Bagh sit-in against CAA/NRC

New delhi: The Delhi Police in its 930-page supplementary chargesheet has claimed that the local residents of Shaheen Bagh were initially against the idea of taking out a protest in the area but former JNU student Sharjeel Imam purportedly "threatened them with dire consequences" if they did not yield to his demand and posed an obstruction to his plan to block the road and create a chakka jam.

This was among the several allegations leveled by the Delhi Police against Imam in connection with his role in the "larger conspiracy" behind the Delhi riots. The chargesheet also names former JNU student Umar Khalid and alleged SIM card seller Faizan Khan and charges them under UAPA among other sections of IPC.

In defense of its claim, police have said that the same has been allegedly revealed by a purported witness.

According to the chargesheet, on December 15, Sharjeel Imam with the help of one Arshad Warsi and his other accomplices who were members of different WhatsApp groups like Muslim Students of JNU and Students of Jamia (SOJ), among others, started a 24x7 chakka jam on the Kalindi Kunj road in Shaheen Bagh. "This act of chakka jam was done in furtherance of common conspiracy. As per the conspiracy, prior to blocking the road, they distributed provocative and misleading pamphlets against CAA/NRC in the area of Shaheen Bagh…made announcements through PA systems, involved Imams of local Masjids for mobilization of Muslim residents," police have claimed.

Police have also relied on a WhatsApp conversation between one Afreen Fatima and Imam to establish that protesters who blocked Shaheen Bagh in the initial days were not local residents. "Main 200 log leke baitha hoon…Agar aap colony wale humse ladna chahte hain to lad lein," Imam purportedly says in his messages.

However, the protests at Shaheen Bagh, as recorded by multiple journalists, was started by mothers and sisters of Jamia Millia Islamia students, who were brutalised by police on December 15 during an anti-CAA protest.

As per the chargesheet, Imam purportedly worked under the guidance of Khalid who reportedly directed him to create several WhatsApp groups in order to coordinate and carry out protests. The Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC) which took out protests at several areas of the capital was also allegedly the brainchild of Khalid, police claimed.

Police have also laid emphasis on three meetings that allegedly consisted of persons from social activist Harsh Mander to Swaraj Abhiyan founder Yogendra Yadav which formed part of the chronology leading up to the February 24 violence in north-east Delhi. In one of the meetings inside the basement of a house in Jangpura on December 8, allegedly attended by Khalid, Imam, Yadav, among others, Imam was purportedly directed to mobilise students from various universities and like-minded organizations in order to carry out a "chakka jam".

Similarly, in a meeting on December 27 at a private residence near Shaheen Bagh, allegedly attended by Mander among others, Imam was directed to exit the Shaheen Bagh protest and travel to other states as part of a strategy to expand the footprint of the movement on a national scale, the chargesheet

claimed.