The Delhi Police have prepared a massive 177-page affidavit to be filed before the Supreme Court in connection with the 2020 anti-Hindu Delhi riots.
This affidavit is a response to bail requests from several accused people, including student activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam. In this new filing, the police argue that the riots weren’t just a random flare-up of anger.
They say it was an “organised regime change operation,” meaning it was a planned effort to challenge the Indian government’s authority.
According to the police’s argument, investigators have gathered the evidence from eyewitnesses, documents, and technology. They believe the riot was the result of a deep-rooted conspiracy that was intentionally stirred up along religious lines. The affidavit states that the plan was to weaponise the public’s disagreement with the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and use it to strike at the sovereignty and integrity of India.
The police also argue this wasn’t just a one-time thing that happened only in Delhi. They describe the organised and calibrated violence as part of a nationwide pattern. The affidavit notes that similar outbreaks were replicated in other states, too, like Uttar Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, and Karnataka. The police call it a “synchronised attempt” to make the government unstable through planned violence.
The Delhi High Court had earlier pointed out that Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam were some of the first people to organise the anti-CAA protests back in December 2019. They got crowds together using speeches, pamphlets, and WhatsApp. The police argue that even if these activists weren’t physically at the riot scenes, it doesn’t clear them.
The police have described them as the “intellectual architects” of the plan; they believe they designed the conspiracy long before the violence actually started.
The accused has consistently told a different story. They insist their actions were just part of their constitutional right to dissent and had no connection to the violence.
Meanwhile, the police are also complaining to the court that the accused are trying to slow down the trial. The affidavit says they are filing “frivolous applications”, pointless legal requests, and “abusing the process” of the court just to cause delays.
The Supreme Court is now set to look at this new affidavit. Just as a reminder, the riots took place in February 2020. It was a tragic event for the city, where 53 people lost their lives and hundreds more were injured. The Delhi Police are being represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.
This is the first time that the Delhi police has made this explosive revelation about a regime change operation that was orchestrated in the garb of anti-Hindu Delhi riots and timed perfectly with US President Donald Trump’s visit to India.
