Delhi violence: Court sends Jamia student to 7-day police custody

The Delhi Police arrested Jamia Millia Islamia University student Asif Iqbal Tanha in connection with the February Delhi violence over CAA. The 24-year-old Asif, who was earlier arrested in connection with the Jamia Nagar protests, has been sent to police custody for seven days.

New Delhi:A Delhi court Wednesday sent Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) university student Asif Iqbal Tanha to 7-day police custody in a case related to communal violence in northeast Delhi during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in February.

Additional Sessions Judge Ajay Kumar Jain sent him to the custody till May 27 after the police said it required his remand to unearth the entire conspiracy with respect to the communal violence in Delhi and to confront him with the electronic data collected during investigation.

Tanha, a third-year student of BA in Persian language, was earlier arrested in connection with the violence in the Jamia area during a protest against the CAA in December last year. He was sent to judicial custody on till May 31 in the case.

The police had said that Tanha, a resident of Abul Fazal Enclave in Shaheen Bagh, was a member of the Students Islamic Organization and was part of the Jamia Coordination Committee which spearheaded protests against the new citizenship law.

"Asif is a key member of the Jamia Coordination Committee and played an active role in organising protests and riots in Jamia in December 2019. He is a close associate of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Meeran Haider and Safoora Zargar who had been key organisers of anti-CAA protests and subsequent riots," police had said.

On December 15 last year, protesters had turned violent, torching four public buses and two police vehicles and pelting stones at the police and civilians, near JMI. At least 40 people including students, policemen and fire fighters were injured in the incident.

Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiraled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.

PTI