20 Hindus named in fresh Delhi riots charge sheets for killing 2 Muslim brothers

Delhi Police filed two more charge sheets Thursday. Police said the accused men formed a WhatsApp group where they spoke of ‘taking revenge from Muslims’.

Smoke rises from a foot overbridge at Gokulpuri in Northeast Delhi after rioters indulged in arson | Manisha Mondal | ThePrint

New Delhi: The Delhi Police Crime Branch Thursday filed two more charge sheets in connection with the February communal riots in northeast Delhi — this time, against 20 Hindus, charging them for the murder of two Muslim brothers, Hashim Ali and Amir Ali.

While one charge sheet named nine Hindus, the other named 11. In the murder case of Hashim, nine Hindus have been named, while in the murder of Amir, 11 accused have been named by police.

The two brothers were on their way home on a bike on 25 February when they were allegedly stopped by a Hindu mob, and then thrashed, stabbed, stripped naked, following which the bodies were dumped in a drain.

According to the police, the accused men were part of a WhatsApp group, called ‘Kattar Hindu’, in which they discussed about “taking revenge from the Muslims”. 

Some of the accused were identified as Pankaj Sharma, Sumit Chaudhary, Ankit Chaudhary, Lokesh Kumar, Prince, Rishabh Choudhry, Jatin Sharma, Vivek Panchal, Himanshu Thakur — all residents of northeast Delhi.

While the police have registered a case of riot, arson and murder with a comment intent against the accused, they have not been booked for criminal conspiracy (IPC Section 120 B) or promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion (IPC Section 153 A), like the Muslim men and activists accused in other cases, where they have been booked for “hatching a conspiracy to start a riot”.

“More than conspiracy, this group was made (created) to talk about revenge, retaliation and not any conspiracy to create a riot,” a senior police officer said.

“They have been booked under murder, common intent. Minimum punishment for this is life. It will be incorrect to say that strong charges have not been pressed against the Hindus,” he added.

According to the police, out of the total arrested, 700 are Muslims and 630 are Hindus. “So the proportion of accused on both sides is the same,” he said.

All the accused men are currently in judicial custody. Their bail applications have been rejected by the court, police said.

‘Lathi, dande, gun ka intezam karlo‘

According to a source in Delhi Police, the group was created on the night of 24 February to “seek revenge” and had over 125 members, all residents of northeast Delhi.

According to the source, members of the group spoke about how they have been “targeted by the Muslims, their shops and houses burnt, so now is the time to retaliate.”

They even spoke about equipping Hindus with “lathis, rods and other weapons” and “take positions across northeast Delhi on 25 February and strike”.

“Some of the chats read: Lathi, danda, gun, explosive sab ka intezam karlo (Get ready with sticks, guns and explosives). Many in that group even told people who spoke of retaliating to calm down and not resort to violence,” the source said.

The source said two members added many people to the group, but not all were involved in active rioting.

“Some members of these groups were only sending and receiving chats, only a few others were involved in active rioting,” he said.

In that group, one member also confessed to have killed one Muslim and encouraged others to pick up weapons.

“One man in the group said ‘maine kisi ka kaam tamam kar diya hai’,” the source said.

“This group was also being used to update the residents of the situation in pockets of northeast Delhi and how and where to congregate on one call,” he added.

How the police identified the ‘killers’

It is this WhatsApp group that led police to the alleged killers.

On 26 February, when the police were fishing out bodies from Johripur drain, two men on a bike visited the area to take a round. On finding them suspicious, they were stopped by the police and questioned.

When the police checked their phones, they stumbled upon this WhatsApp group and the chats. Their phones were confiscated and other people were identified from that WhatsApp group, the source said.

“They said they had come to take a round. But when their phones were checked, we found this group and then we analysed its contents to reach the killers,” the source said.

The police also said they had received a PCR call from the area where the two Muslim brothers were intercepted, which they have put on record.

“The eyewitness in the case is a Hindu, who called the PCR and informed them about bodies of the two men being thrown into a drain. Their bodies were recovered from the same drain the next morning,” the source added.