2020 Delhi riots: First conviction handed down

New Delhi: In the first conviction in the riots that broke out in north-eastern Delhi in February 2020, a Delhi court Monday convicted a 25-year-old man on various charges, including ransacking and setting on fire an elderly woman’s house. According to the case, it was alleged that February 25, 2020, a mob of rioters, numbering around 150 to 200, attacked the 73-year-old woman’s house when her family was not present. They looted all the domestic articles and the mob even took away their buffalo, as per the complaint.

On the woman’s statement, a case under various sections of the IPC, including 147, 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly for crime), 436 (mischief by fire or any explosive substance), 457 (house-breaking by night), 392 (punishment for robbery), 452 (house-trespass), and 188 (disobedience to an order lawfully promulgated by a public servant) was registered.

During the course of the investigation, accused Dinesh alias Michal of Bhagirathi Vihar in Gokulpuri in Delhi was arrested June 8, 2020. After the investigation, a case file was submitted in court and after the trial, the court has convicted the accused.

The Delhi High Court had sought November 25 a detailed affidavit in connection with the last year’s riots, following the police’s submission that charge sheets have been filed in 361 out of 758 cases.

Police also informed the court that 62 cases that pertained to major incidents like murders were transferred to the Crime Branch, which had undertaken an investigation by employing three dedicated Special Investigating Teams SIT), being continuously monitored by the superior officers.

Among these charge sheets, 67 have been framed as of October 4, the Delhi Police told the bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh.

The riots broke out in northeast Delhi in February 2020 after clashes between anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and pro-CAA protesters took a violent turn. The time of the mayhem coincided with the then US President Donald Trump’s maiden trip to India.

Over 50 people had died in the riots. Several posts had then gone viral on social media, mainly on Facebook, adding fuel to the fire.