Man accused in several cases of Delhi riots nabbed by police

New Delhi: The Crime Branch of Delhi Police has arrested a person who was accused in several cases of rioting that had occurred in North-East Delhi in February 2020, an official said here on Monday.

Acting on a tip-off about the presence of the accused identified as Mohd Salam alias Chand Babu at Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, the police constituted a team to nab the proclaimed offender.

After thoroughly going through several CCTV footages, the police team conducted a raid and arrested the accused from near Govt Hospital in Bulandshahr.

The police said that on sustained interrogation, the accused disclosed that he was very angry after the CAA bill was passed, as he perceived that this law was “against Muslim Community who would be forced out of India”.

“Several groups were set up against this law. On 24.02.2020, people of the Muslim community had gathered at Ghonda, Delhi to protest against the law. The mob became violent and started damaging property belonging to people of the Hindu community. He along with other rioters also set fire to several shops and vehicles. Some of the rioters also opened fire towards houses belonging to the Hindu community,” the police said in a statement.

The police underlined that the accused rioter was identified during the investigation through statements of witnesses, video footage and disclosure statement of co-accused persons and on knowing this, the accused was hiding to evade the arrest.

The police have registered an FIR and arrested the accused person under the appropriate section of the law. “The concerned police station has been informed regarding this,” the police added.