Yogendra Yadav name figured in chargesheet filed by Delhi Police in head constable Rattan Lal’s death case during February riots. (File pic IE)

Delhi Riots Chargesheet: The chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police in a case related to the murder of head constable Rattan Lal during Northeast Delhi riots in February also mentions activist and Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav, among others. Besides Yadav, the chargesheet also named student leader Kawalpreet Kaur and advocate DS Bindra.

Head constable Rattan Lal, 42, was killed during the riots in the national capital. His death was the first reported casualty when multiple incidents of stone pelting on February 23 turned into a full-blown riot. Lal had sustained injuries during stone-pelting in the Chand Bagh area. The cop had also received a bullet injury.

The chargesheet was filed before Metropolitan Magistrate Rakesh Kumar Rampuri by the Crime Branch of Delhi Police on June 8.

According to a report in The Indian Express, Yadav, Kaur and Bindra are not part of the list of 17 accused, but the chargesheet said “links of the organisers of the (Chand Bagh) protest site with the likes of Bindra (AIMIM), Kaur (AISA), Devangana Kalita (Pinjra Tod), Safoora, Yogendra Yadav, etc itself indicates a hidden agenda behind the violence”.

The 17 accused are between the ages of 18 and 50 years. Most of them are residents of Chand Bagh area. Some are from neighbouring areas like Prem Nagar, Mustafabad and Jagatpuri.

According to police, protests in Chand Bagh had been going on since mid-January. The chargesheet said serious communal riots took place in Northeast Delhi in which more than 750 cases were registered. A total of 53 people were killed including Lal.

“Lal, along with ACP (Gokalpuri) and DCP (Shahdara) and some other police officials, was present closest to the protest site at Chand Bagh. Apparently, during the attack by mob, he could not jump over the five-feet-tall divider on the Wazirabad road, and collapsed after being shot at and hit by stones,” the chargesheet said.

It said Lal was beaten with sticks and rods. He was taken to GTB hospital where he was declared brought dead.

His post-mortem was conducted on February 25. The autopsy report revealed that Lal had died due to gunshot injury. In all, he had sustained 21 injuries on his body.

According to the chargesheet, the IE report said, Yadav’s name appeared in the statement of a witness from the Chand Bagh protest site. “…Protest started here. People from outside were called and advocate Bhanu Pratap, Bindra, Yadav and many students of JNU, Jamia and DU used to come, who used to speak against the government and NRC and would say that Muslims should be anxious. This continued from January to February 24, for 50 days”.

Meanwhile, Yogendra Yadav told The Indian Express that he didn’t speak anything that incites violence in February.

“Everything that I spoke is in the public domain. Please point out one instance where I have directly or indirectly incited violence of any kind,” he said.

Violence in Delhi coincided with the India visit of US President Donald Trump. As many as 53 people lost their lives in the riots that included a policeman and an intelligence officer.