A 22-year-old man was arrested on April 19 in connection with the riots in north-east Delhi in February. His family claimed that he had lodged a complaint with the police about being attacked inside a mosque in Brijpuri on February 25 and was called to the police station on the pretext of identifying the accused in the case.
Javed, a resident of Mustafabad who is pursuing BA from open school, was arrested at Dayalpur police station, his father Shokeen Ahmed, 45, said.
A senior police officer from North-East district said, “He [Javed] has been carefully examined. He was found involved in rioting. Hence, has been arrested.”
Mr. Shokeen, who runs a milk business, said Javed had gone to Brijpuri on February 25 to collect money from a relative. From there he went to Farooqia Masjid to offer prayers. “While they were praying, some men in uniform entered [the mosque] wearing helmets and handkerchiefs and attacked everyone with sticks. Javed’s head and foot were severely injured in the attack. Whether they were real policemen or not, we don’t know,” he said.
MLC prepared
When Javed reached home in an injured condition, he was rushed to Al Hind Hospital where many injured were being treated at that time, said the family. Javed received 10 stitches in his head and was sent home. On suggestions of lawyers, who were active in the area providing legal aid to victims, his medico-legal certificate (MLC) was prepared from Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital on March 5. A copy of the MLC was seen by The Hindu.
There were no proceedings in the case for an entire month, but about 20 days ago, the family members said they were approached by police officers from the district who first asked them about the MLC and then about how Javed got injured. “Javed narrated the entire incident. They asked whether we want legal action and we said yes. They tried to dissuade us from pursuing but we still insisted. They then agreed and took a written statement,” Mr. Shokeen said.
On April 19, Javed allegedly received a call from the police station and was asked to come to identify the accused who had attacked him. “We went and they asked Javed what he does. He told them he studies. They asked him to bring his education-related documents. The officer who initially questioned us let us go but then we were taken to a senior officer who asked Javed if he was involved. Javed denied and said he was in Brijpuri to collect payment and then he had gone to the mosque for prayers. The officer took details of the relative and called him,” Mr. Shokeen said.
The relative allegedly got scared of being dragged into the investigation and fumbled while answering a few questions and Javed was arrested, said the family. He was sent to Mandoli jail the next day.
Police sources in a unit tasked to probe the riots said they have started examining MLCs and are speaking to those who were injured. “There’s a possibility that those who got injured were rioting,” a source said.
Javed’s lawyer Deeksha Dwivedi said that he has been arrested in an unnamed FIR on charges of rioting, vandalism and theft. She also said that “it’s an arbitrary arrest” after he went to file an FIR for the injuries he received during the riots for which an MLC was done. “The family wasn’t informed of the charges. We will file a plea for interim bail,” she said.
The father said, “They have not shown us any video footage. They haven’t spoken to the imam of the Masjid. The arrest has been made only because we got the MLC done and they got to know about Javed.”