From Jaipur to Noida to Jama Masjid: How Chandrashekhar Azad evaded cops

He surrendered at 3 am Saturday at gate no. 1 of Jama Masjid, minutes after addressing hundreds of protesters. “He was taken to the crime branch’s office in Chanakyapuri and was shifted to Rajendra Nagar police station… Later in the afternoon, he was taken to GO’s mess in Darya Ganj, where DCP (Central) Mandeep Randhawa questioned him for around two hours,” a senior police said.

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During questioning, Azad revealed that he came from Jaipur on Thursday and was staying in Noida. He had switched off his phone when he started receiving calls from the police. Later, police approached his advocate, who said his client had made up his mind to turn up at Jama Masjid, said police.

“The special branch had been trying to track him since Thursday. On Friday, a team of special cell was roped in, and it was found that Azad’s phone was switched off. They later checked his advocate’s phone location, which was found active in South Delhi’s Masjid Moth. By the time a team reached there, he had left for Jama Masjid,” an officer said, adding that police personnel were deployed at all 10 gates of Jama Masjid, and each officer had a photo of him on their phones.

According to police, Azad said he snuck into Jama Masjid at 1.25 pm with his advocate, after putting on a skull cap and a shawl.

Delhi Police’s day-long search for Azad ended around 3 am Saturday, when he emerged from Jama Masjid. Addressing the gathering on a microphone, he said, “The fight to save the country cannot be fought from home.” At 3.18 am, Azad tweeted: “All those detained should be freed and then I’ll surrender.”

In the FIR, police stated that as protesters were leaving from India Gate, 4,000-5,000 people from North East Delhi joined them. “Within minutes, there were 8,000-10,000 people. Azad had threatened to march from Jama Masjid… but they were prevented from moving forward at Delhi Gate,” the FIR stated.

“Suddenly, they started pelting stones at police and set a car on fire… Minimum force was used to disperse protesters. Many people fell and got injured during this. Several policemen were also injured,” the FIR said.