Accused in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri violence charged with stringent NSA

Union Home Minister Amit Shah wanted strict action against those behind 16 April clashes; to set a precedent.

The site where violence broke out between two communities during the Shobha Yatra procession on Hanuman Jayanti, at Jahangirpuri, in New Delhi on 16 April 2022 | ANI Photo

New Delhi: The Delhi police Tuesday charged five Jahangirpuri violence accused under the stringent National Security Act (NSA).

The main conspirators include Sonu Sheikh, who had reportedly opened fire at the crowd and Ansar, who is a repeat offender. They were charged along with three other accused — Salim, Dilshad and Ahir.

This comes a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana and called for ‘strict action’ against those involved in the 16 April clashes to set a precedent.

The National Security Act is an act that allows the centre and state government to detain a person if the authorities believe he/she is a threat to national security or to prevent him/her from disrupting public order.

According to police Monday 23 people “from both communities” were arrested for being involved in the violence. “Eight have a previous criminal record. Action will be taken against any person found guilty irrespective of their class, creed, community and religion,” Asthana was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, Left parties have claimed that Jahangirpuri violence was some Sangh affiliates’ agenda to use religious occasions to create communal disharmony. In a fact-finding report released Tuesday, they had also stated that Hindus and Muslims have been living there “together for decades” and that those who participated in the violence on Saturday were outsiders.

Clashes had broke out on 16 April between Hindus and Muslims during a Hanuman Jayanti procession in Northwest Delhi’s Jahangirpuri, in which eight police personnel and a local resident were injured. Police have been heavily deployed in the violence-hit area. Even as three days have passed since the riots and Jahangirpuri has witnessed some resumption of normal activities, an uneasy calm continues to prevail there.