Delhi riots: Sitaram Yechury, Yogendra Yadav, Jayati Ghosh ‘co-plotters’

New Delhi, September 12

The Delhi Police have named CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav, economist Jayati Ghosh, Delhi University professor and activist Apoorvanand and documentary filmmaker Rahul Roy as co-conspirators in the February Delhi riots.

They have been accused of asking anti-CAA protesters to go to “any extreme”, spreading discontent by calling CAA/NRC anti-Muslim and organising demonstrations to “malign the image of the Government of India”. The names appeared in a supplementary chargesheet. They have been made accused on the confessions of three students.

All three are facing charges under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. In the charge sheet, which was made public just two days before the commencement of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, the Delhi Police has claimed that Kalita and Narwal admitted to not just their complicity in the riots but also named Ghosh, Apoorvanand and Roy as their mentors, who allegedly asked them to carry out the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and go to ¨any extreme¨.

Their similarly-worded disclosure statements – mentioned in the charge sheet — claim the two JNU students said they organised the Daryaganj protest in December and the Jafrafad chakka jam (road block) against the CAA on February 22, 2020 at the behest of Ghosh, Apoorvanand and Roy.

The student-activists also told the police the three coordinated with the Islamist group Popular Front of India (PFI) and the Jamia Coordination Committee to mentor the Pinjra Tod members to carry forward their campaign against the CAA, according to the chargesheet. — PTI