New Delhi:Names of CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav, economist Jayati Ghosh and Delhi University professor Apoorvanand figure in a supplementary charge sheet filed by the Delhi Police in the February riots cases.
However, according to Delhi police, they have not been named have not been arraigned as accused in the supplementary charge sheet
Some of those named have also been charged with -- based on the statements of three students already arrested in the case -- asking the protesters to go to "any extreme", spreading "discontent" in the community by calling CAA/NRC anti-Muslim, and organising demonstrations to "malign the image of Government of India".
Their names appeared in the supplementary charge sheet filed by the police on the riots in North-East District between February 23 and 26, which claimed 53 lives and left 581 injured, 97 of them with gunshot wounds.
Later, after a political slugfest broke out on the issue, Delhi Police sources sought to downplay the entire matter, saying one of the accused had disclosed these names in their disclosure statement.
The Delhi Police has not filed a charge sheet "against" them, the sources said, while trying to stress upon a difference between ''naming'' of someone as an accused in a charge sheet and of mentioning a name due to certain allegations.
After repeated attempts for his comments, Yogendra Yadav said, "I notice that the passing reference to me does not even contain one sentence from my speech. I find it surprising that the Delhi Police has made no effort to see the recording of my speeches all of which are in public domain."
These eminent personalities have been named based on the statements of the three students -- women's collective Pinjra Tod members and JNU students Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, and Gulfisha Fathima of Jamia Milia Islamia -- in the Jafrabad violence, from where the riots spread to other parts of north-east Delhi.
All three are facing charges under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
In the charge sheet, which was made public just two days before the commencement of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, the Delhi Police has claimed that Kalita and Narwal admitted to not just their complicity in the riots but also named Ghosh, Apoorvanand and documentary filmmaker Rahul Roy as their mentors, who allegedly asked them to carry out the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and go to "any extreme".
Their similarly-worded disclosure statements -- mentioned in the charge sheet -- claimed that the two JNU students said they organised the Daryaganj protest in December and the Jafrafad chakka jam (roadblock) against the CAA on February 22, 2020 at the behest of Ghosh, Apoorvanand and Roy.
Reacting to the charge sheet, Yechury hit out at the government through a series of tweets.
"The Delhi Police is under the Centre and the Home Ministry. Its illegitimate, illegal actions are a direct outcome of the politics of BJP's top leadership. They are scared of legitimate peaceful protests by mainstream political parties & are misusing state power to target the opposition," he said.