New Delhi
Former JNU student leader Umar Khalid, arrested under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in north-east Delhi riots conspiracy case, told a Delhi Court on Monday that there were various contradictions in the police's claims and called it a "cooked up" case.
Khalid, along with several others, has been booked under anti-terror law UAPA. They are accused of being the "masterminds" of the February 2020 violence, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured. He has sought bail in the case.
Trideep Pais, Khalid's lawyer, told Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat the FIR was cooked up and was used selectively to target and frame them.
He showed the court a 21-minute video clip of Khalid's speech in Maharashtra, which the prosecution had allegedly labelled inflammatory. The lawyer apprised the court that his client did not give any call for violence through the speech and in fact gave a message of unity to the people. "A message of unity based on Gandhi ji was given by Umar Khalid that day. It was termed as terror.," Pais added.
Secondly, he argued that as per the police case, Khalid conspired with other accused on January 8 to cause riots during former US President Donald Trump's visit, however, the news about his visit was announced only in February. "These are the kind of lies they are peddling. This is a joke. This FIR is a cooked-up theory. Is it that easy to prosecute people? Do you have no responsibility as a prosecution?" Pais said.
