Yusuf Ansari, Twocircles.net

To end the Shaheen Bagh protest against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Delhi Police is now using oppressive tactics. Police has now started linking the protestors to ISIS and even, Pakistani agents from ISI after failing to quell the 3 months ongoing sit-in. To add credibility to their claim, police has allegedly arrested ISIS agents who are helping create ruckus in the Capital. First in the line of arrests was the Kashmiri couple having alleged links with the Khorasan Module of ISIS, and now the police has sent to jail Parvez Ahmed, Chief of Popular Front of India (PFI), Delhi, for funding riots.

PFI’s Delhi Chief and Secretary Arrested

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Delhi Police on Thursday morning arrested PFI Chief Parvez Ahmed and Secretary Mohammad Iliyas on accusations of instigating people during Delhi riots and funding Shaheen Bagh protests. Iliyas, a resident of riot-hit Shiv Vihar, is accused of funding riots. The duo has been kept in 7 days police custody after which they are likely to be produced before Patiala House Court. By afternoon on Thursday, the police had also accused someone named Salman, of murdering Investigative Bureau Officer, Ankit Sharma.

Danish arrested for funding food and protests at Shaheen Bagh site

It is noteworthy that on Monday, Delhi Police had arrested PFI’s Danish Ali on charges of funding anti-CAA protestors. Special Cell of Delhi Police questioned Danish regarding the same, to which he was found guilty, as police quoted to media. He was also found guilty of inciting violence and riots. Danish has also allegedly been distributing food and money to protestors at Shaheen Bagh. He was produced in Court and has subsequently been remanded for 4 days.

Delhi Police lacks valuable proof

It is not surprising that Delhi police has no valuable proof to support the above arrests. Special Cell of Delhi Police, DCP, Pramod Kushwah, has said Md Danish, resident of Gokulpuri has been arrested through FIR 59. Danish, he said is in the counter intelligence team of PFI and has been regularly monitoring the riot situation, paying special attention to police officers and IB officials activities. He has been charged with spying on police officials and targeting them whenever he found one officer frequently attending to a particular locality. DCP Pramod has also accused Danish of having a history of beating up police officials and sending inflammatory literature to instigate people for protests and riots, other than paying outsiders to come to Delhi and participate in the massive violence. However, he refrained from telling which police officials have been targeted and where, by Danish and his monitoring team.

Delhi Police’s attempt to link Taher Hussain with PFI

Delhi Police has also attempted to draw connections between main accused, Taher Hussain, and PFI. On March 11, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a case against Taher accusing him of money laundering. The Crime Branch of Delhi Police made four arrests in connection with the same on Monday. One of those arrested is Taher’s brother Shah Alam, along with three other associates. Taher is also accused in the murder of IB official Ankit Sharma.

More PFI-SDPI workers arrested in Shaymali

As Delhi Police is on a rampage of arresting anti-CAA protestors, it must be remembered that this was actually started by the UP police making mass detentions of youth across the state in connection with anti-CAA protests. According to reports, UP police has arrested 23 workers from PFI and SDPI from UP’s Shayamali Zila. According to SP, Shayamali, the 23 were held for having inflammatory materials and literature, including posters and flyers in relation to CAA.

No serious offence charges on those arrested

What is common in all of the above arrests is that police hasn’t been able to charge any of them under any serious offence. Mostly they were arrested due to their supplying protest materials, food, and other resources in the major protest sites but all of these do not come as serious offence in the Indian Penal Code. Some of them who were arrested for possessing literature dealing with CAA, also, do not fall under any serious category of criminal charges.

For two days after arresting the Kashmiri couple from Okhla Vihar, Delhi police maintained huge furor in media but has now fallen silent as the question of solid evidence against arrests surface.

SHO, Jamia Nagar, has told media that the landlord taken into police custody in the Kashmiri couple case, Saeed Abbasi has been released after lodging an FIR. As communicated on phone, Abbasi said police has discharged him for having no serious criminal offence and he might be called, if required, for a follow up investigation with the Crime Branch.

Amit Shah behind the arrests

It is highly suspected that Delhi Police is making these arrests on the orders of Home Minister Amit Shah. Amit Shah had said in the Parliament that he had been informed on February 24 that funding for riots have been depositing from foreign accounts. This money was then distributed all over Delhi and even before the police could take any subsequent action, the riots started. Shah also said that 5 arrests have been made so far and that police will soon release a statement regarding this information. He said that the riots were planned in advance by ISIS and wherever the culprits are hiding, they would be found out and served justice. Shah reminded everyone that the killers of Ratnalal and Ankit Sharma will be arrested soon.

These statements from the Home Ministry have sped up the arrests but what is shocking is all arrests in connection with Delhi riots have Muslims as culprits. While on the other hand, there is absolutely no existent narrative on those who looted, burnt, and rampaged Muslim properties in the riots. This one-sided investigation is visible, but no voice has so far reached the Home Ministry.

Shaheen Bagh a headache for Modi Sarkar

What can be calculated from the above is that the bone of contention is actually the three months ongoing sit-in at Shaheen Bagh which is now proving to be a migraine for Modi government. Despite several attempts, nothing has been shaking the spirits of the women of Shaheen Bagh until very recently, Supreme Court has appointed two lawyers – Sanjay Hegde and Sadhna Ramchandran to negotiate and clear the roads of the protestors.

On March 1, Hindtuva organizations had tried to break in to the protest site but very soon the video of a right winger woman dressed in burqa got viral, thus failing their motives. The police, bent on its mission to empty Shaheen Bagh, has now started mass arrests to peddle fear among protestors and the time to come can easily understood as a difficult time as police is on a spree to put false charges on innocents and arrest them on charges of paying protestors or inciting riots.