Northeast Delhi riots: President of Jamia alumni association arrested under the UAPA

The President of Jamia Millia Islamia Alumni Association has been arrested under the stringent UAPA in connection with the riots in northeast Delhi in February, officials said on Monday. Shifa-Ur-Rehman, also a member of Jamia Coordination Committee, was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for alleged involvement in the riots and was subsequently arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on Sunday, they said.

"We had technical evidence against him which suggests that he incited mobs during the riots. He was also seen in the CCTV footage which was collected from the riot-affected areas. We have checked his call record details and WhatsApp messages and found more evidence which suggests his involvement in the riots," a senior police officer said. According to the police, he was produced in a city court which remanded him in police custody for 10 days for further interrogation in connection with the case. So far, 10 people have been arrested by the special cell of the Delhi police for alleged involvement in the communal riots.

Earlier, Jamia Millia Islamia students Meeran Haider and Safoora Zagar were also arrested under the Act for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to incite the communal riots. While Zargar is the media coordinator of Jamia Coordination Committee, Haider is a member of the committee. In the FIR, police have claimed that the communal violence was a "premeditated conspiracy" which was allegedly hatched by former JNU student leader Umar Khalid and two others. Communal violence had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after clashes between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled, leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.