By Shyamala Tulasi

NEW DELHI: Umar Khalid, a former student of Jawaharlal Nehru University, also an activist, was bail denied today by the Karkardooma Court in the case relating to the 2020 Northeast Delhi violence. He was arrested on September 14, 2020, and is presently lodged at Delhi's Tihar jail.

Umar Khalid faces charges under the anti-terror law of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for being one of the" masterminds “of the February 2020 riots, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured. While 18 people have been indicted in the Delhi riots so far only 6 have received bail so far.

Senior Advocate Trideep Pais, appearing for Umar Khalid, had vindicated that the entire charge distance filed by Delhi Police in the case is a fabrication and that the case against him is grounded on the videotape clips run by two Television channels showing his speech which was cut short and not shown in its entirety.

The prosecution had argued that Umar Khalid was a" veteran of sedition “and the" silent whisper behind the first phase of the riots that took place in 2019". The violence had erupted during the demurrers against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens.

Besides Umar Khalid, activist Khalid Saifi, JNU scholars Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, Jamia Coordination Committee members Safoora Zargar, former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and several others have also been booked under the law in this case. ( With inputs from NDTV)

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