The Delhi Police filed a supplementary chargesheet against Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Sharjeel Imam who had been slapped with sedition charges in December for allegedly giving a seditious speech and abetting riots in Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) during a protest against the contentious Citizenship Act (CAA), in Saket district court, on Saturday.
Earlier, Imam had been named as an “instigator” by the Delhi Police in its chargesheet on violent protests against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on December 15, last year near Delhi’s Jamia Nagar.
Violence erupted following a clash between police and JMI students who were protesting. As many as 14 buses were burnt and 20 private vehicles were torched in the violence. Police used batons and teargas and were seen chasing protesters through the streets, leaving nearly 60 people including students, cops and fire fighters injured.
Sharjeel was slapped with a sedition case by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police in January, after his alleged speeches went viral on the social media wherein he was heard speaking about Assam’s possible secession from the country in the wake of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
Imam was arrested from Jehanabad in Bihar on January 28, days after he managed to outwit the Delhi Police which had launched a massive manhunt to nab him.
Earlier, he had been charged on similar charges at a police station in Aligarh for a speech he delivered on the AMU campus. Besides, a case under the stringent anti-terror law UAPA has been registered against him in Assam.
“This is absolutely absurd. They are trying to link him with some Islamist organization without naming it.” Sharjeel’s counsel Ibrahim was quoted by news agency IANS as saying.
During investigation, on the basis of evidences collected, Sections 124 A IPC and 153 A IPC ( Sedition and promoting enmity between classes) were invoked in the case.
A senior police officer said the first charge sheet in the case was filed against the rioters and sections 124 A IPC and 153 A IPC (Sedition and promoting enmity between classes) were invoked.
“On 15.12.19, serious riots had broken out in consequence to the protest march organised by Jamia students against CAA (the Citizenship Amendment Act) in the area of PS New Friends Colony and Jamia. The mob indulged in large scale rioting, stone pelting and arson, and in the process destroyed many public and private properties. Cases of rioting, arson and damage to public properties were registered in both the police stations. Many policemen and public persons were injured in the riots,” the Delhi Police said in a statement.
A graduate in computer science from IIT-Mumbai, Sharjeel Imam had shifted to Delhi for pursuing research at the Centre for Historical Studies, JNU.