Police to make more arrests in SAR Gilani case

NEW DELHI: A day after former DU lecturer SAR Gilani was arrested under sedition and other charges, Delhi Police today said that a few others "involved" in the same case are likely to be apprehended soon.

"In SAR Gilani's case, we are interrogating a few others and those involved will be arrested soon," Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi told reporters.

Gilani was arrested yesterday under charges of sedition, criminal conspiracy and being part of an unlawful assembly in connection with an event organised at Press Club of India here on February 10, in which a group had allegedly raised anti-India slogans.

The FIR against Gilani was registered on February 12, the day on which JNU Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested in a separate case of sedition registered over an event in the varsity's campus against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

Between Friday and Monday, the police questioned Delhi University professors Ali Javed, Nirmalangshu Mukherji and Tripta Wahi. All three of them were present with Gilani on the dais at the Press Club event.

On Monday evening, Gilani was detained for questioning and later arrested in the wee hours yesterday.

In Gilani's case, the police had claimed to have registered the FIR taking suo motu cognisance of media clips of the incident. Police also claimed that Gilani was booked as he is presumed to be the "main organiser" of the event.

"Request for booking a hall at the Press Club was done through Gilani's e-mail and the nature of the event was proposed to be a public meeting, which did not turn out to be so," a senior official had said.

In 2001, Gilani was arrested by Delhi Police in connection with the Parliament attack case but acquitted for "need of evidence" by the Delhi High Court in October 2003, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court in August 2005, which at the same time had observed that the needle of suspicion pointed towards him.