1,300 persons arrested for north-east Delhi riots: police

‘Proportion of accused from two communities almost same’

Scene at Chand Bagh after riots ripped through the area in February this year.

The Delhi Police on Saturday said that about 1,300 accused persons had been arrested in 750 cases concerning the recent communal violence in north-east Delhi, stressing that “in terms of proportion of the arrested accused, the numbers from two communities are almost identical to each other”.

Responding to a comment piece published in The Hindu by two secretaries of the Peoples Union for Democratic Rights, the Delhi police PRO M.S. Randhawa stated, “The police actions in all such situations are guided by the twin principles of providing relief to the victims and ensuring legal action against the perpetrators.”

All arrests in the riot cases, Mr. Randhawa claimed, were based on scientific and technical evidence since the responsibility cast upon the police is to prosecute the arrested accused before a court of law where every bit of evidence is scrutinised threadbare.

“Each arrested accused was produced before the judicial magistrate as mandated in law where legal aid was available to him / her in the form of private counsel or a legal aid counsel from the Delhi Legal Services Authority,” he pointed out.

Separate FIRs

The PRO said a perusal of the list of people who had applied for compensation from the Delhi administration would reveal that the “sufferance has been almost equal for all victims”.

The PRO also claimed that for every single murder case, the Delhi Police had registered a separate FIR and “clubbing” of multiple incidents was not a “fact”.

Mr. Randhawa also denied any link between the charges brought against Delhi Minorities Commission chairman Zafarul Islam Khan under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the riots in north-east Delhi.

According to the PRO, it needed to be “clearly understood that the conduct of [the] DMC chief and the subsequent criminal action against him is distinct and separate from the northeast riots”.

Stating that the police was committed to ensuring justice for the victims, he pointed out that as any as 750 cases had been registered following the communal riots in Delhi. “It is difficult to find a similar precedent,” Mr. Randhawa added.