Former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Umar Khalid has informed a court in New Delhi that police did not have any evidence against him, and a case can’t be made against him on half-truths.
The BJP government arrested scores of students, political and civil society members including Umar Khalid and booked them under draconian law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in connection with the Delhi riots in February 2020 which left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.
Arguing his bail plea before Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat, senior advocate Trideep Pais read out the statements of three protected witnesses and claimed that they were contradictory and cooked up.
During the proceedings, Pais read out a police allegation from the charge sheet regarding an alleged secret meeting in Delhi’s Seelampur area on January 23 and 24 last year in which Khalid had allegedly directed that the protests be escalated to riots.—INP
