NEW DELHI: A 46-year-old man, accused of preparing and supplying bombs during the northeast Delhi riots, was allegedly framed by his neighbour over old enmity, police said on Thursday.
Police said pipe bombs which were recovered from the terrace of the man were actually planted by his neighbour.
The northeast Delhi riots in February 2020 had claimed 53 lives and left over 200 injured.
The riots were triggered by clashes between those protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act and those supporting it.
Elaborating about the chain of events, officials said when the unit of Delhi Police's Special Cell was investigating a case in connection with the conspiracy of the riots, they received a source-based tip which said a man named Ansar Khan, a resident of Kardampuri, was involved in the riots.
At that time, the informer told the police that Khan and his son Imran were active participants in the Delhi riots and had prepared and were still preparing more bombs to disturb communal harmony.
After the riots, Khan fled from Kardampuri in June as questioning and apprehensions of local miscreants and rioters by the police gained momentum during that period.
He started staying at Loni in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad, officials said.
Thereafter, Khan, was apprehended from Nithora Road at Aman Garden in Loni on July 31.
The police examined him to verify the tip-off they had got.
Khan did not cooperate during the investigation.
He did not disclose anything and was found suspicious.
For further enquiry and to check facts, Khan was taken to his house in Vijay Nagar Colony and the premises was searched, a senior police officer said.
The assistance of the staff of Kotwali Loni police station in Ghaziabad district was taken for the verification.
Thereafter, the house was searched in presence of local police, the official said.
During the search, an old, yellow-coloured, rusty cylindrical container having primer stains was found on the terrace of Khan's house.
It was found to be containing five sealed iron pipes wrapped in papers.
Each iron pipe was sealed with the help of iron bolts and white thread, the officer said.
Also, one thread was popping out from the middle of the iron pipe and black-coloured tape was wrapped around it.
The pipes were heavy weight and were seized and deposited in the Malkhana of Special Cell police station, the officer said.
Police also recovered five IEDs (pipe bombs) from the rooftop after further search, the officer said.
Khan denied any knowledge about the bombs.
It was also observed that some of the facts told by Khan were not in sync with the flow of information, the officer said.
On further examination, it was found that a man named Mujammil Alvi (36), also a resident of Vijay Nagar colony in Loni had an old enmity with Khan and a family feud was going between them, police said.
Thereafter, Alvi was examined about the recovery of the suspicious articles.
During enquiry, all the facts pointed that Alvi could have placed the suspicious articles on Kham's roof, the police said.
Moreover, antecedents of Khan did not corroborate with the original input of his involvement in the Delhi riots, they said.
A complaint was made to the SHO Kotwali Loni, Ghaziabad for appropriate action against Alvi.
A case under sections 286 (negligent conduct with respect to explosive substance), 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code and Explosives Act has been registered at the Loni Police station, officials said.