Opposition petitions President Ram Nath Kovind against Delhi Police’s probe into February riots

NEW DELHI: A delegation of opposition leaders met President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday and complained about the direction of the Delhi Police’s investigation into the Delhi riots in February and demanded the probe be handed over to a judicial commission.
In their memorandum to the President, these leaders alleged instead of probing the violence in which 53 people were killed and punishing those who made hate speeches and fomented violence, the Union home ministry and the Delhi Police were trying to fix those who participated in the protests in the city against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens.

Only five leaders — Ahmed Patel (Congress), Kanimozhi (DMK), Manoj Jha (RJD), Sitaram Yechury (CPM) and D Raja (CPI) — met the President because of the Covid-19 protocol.

“There are serious questions about the role played by the Delhi Police itself during the violence and also the manner in which the police is harassing and attempting to falsely implicate activists and young people who took part in the anti-CAA/NRC/NPR movements as the perpetrators of violence,” their memorandum alleged. “The name of the general secretary of the CPM, Sitaram Yechury, and also names of well-known intellectuals, academicians and activists have now surfaced in material put out in the public domain. This is a disturbing trend that raises serious questions over the manner of such investigations,” it added.