Intellectual terrorists more dangerous than those working on ground, Delhi Police tell SC

In a veiled reference to alleged involvement of several doctors in the recent terror attack near Red Fort in the national capital that claimed 15 lives, the Delhi Police on Thursday told the Supreme Court that when intellectuals become terrorists, they become more dangerous than those working on the ground.

Vehemently opposing the bail pleas of 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case accused Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Meeran Haider, Gulfisha Fatima, Shifa ur-Rehman and Md Saleem Khan, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju submitted on behalf of the Delhi Police that educated radicals were much more dangerous.

“Now, the trend has become that doctors, engineers and intellectuals are not pursuing their profession and are instead engaging in anti-national activities. When intellectuals become terrorists, they become more dangerous than those ground-level terrorists,” Raju told a Bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice NV Anjaria, referring to Imam, who is an engineer.

The ASG showed videos of Imam giving “inflammatory speeches” against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at Chakhand, Jamia, Aligarh and Asansol in 2019 and 2020.

“It’s not a simple protest. These are violent protests. They are talking about blockades,” Raju told the Bench which asked if the speeches were part of the chargesheet.

Answering the query in the affirmative, the ASG said, “The CAA protests were a red herring, the real purpose was regime change… create economic deprivation and chaos across the country. The riots were deliberately made to coincide with the visit of US President Donald Trump. These so-called intellectuals are more dangerous than the ground-level terrorists,” Raju said. He also countered the claim of the accused about delay in the trial, saying that the delay was attributable to the accused and they couldn’t take advantage of it.

The Bench would resume the hearing on Friday.

Terming the 2020 Delhi riots as an “orchestrated, pre-planned, and well-designed” attack on the sovereignty of India, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had on Tuesday vehemently opposed the bail pleas of the accused, saying the riots were not something spontaneous.