By Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta / The Wire
New Delhi: A fact-finding committee on the February 2020 communal riots in north-east Delhi headed by former Supreme Court judge Madan B. Lokur concluded that the Union home ministry conspicuously delayed deploying additional forces in the violence-hit areas, even as the communal riots continued unabated between February 23 and 26, 2020.
The committee found that despite Delhi Police leadership receiving at least six internal alerts from the Special Branch and the Intelligence units on February 23 – the day when riots began – additional forces were deployed only on February 26. The alerts did warn that violence between the communities could escalate.
The alleged lackadaisical attitude shown by the home ministry indirectly helped the rioters go unchecked, organise better, and unleash targeted violence for three continuous days, the committee held.
The committee’s claim was backed by Delhi Police’s own chargesheet produced in the court for the first information report (FIR)-59 that invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against activists like Umar Khalid, Khalid Saifi, Ishrat Jahan, and students like Gulfisha Fatima, Safoora Zargar, Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita and others.
The chargesheet states that the number of Delhi police and Central Armed Police Forces’ personnel were under 1,400 on the first three days of the violence when maximum distress calls were made from the affected areas. The deployment of forces was increased to over 4,000 only on February 26 when violence was largely contained in many parts of northeast Delhi.
This story was originally published in thewire.in . Read the full story here
