How a phone call landed Delhi riots accused in cop net

New Delhi: Gangsters and criminals in Uttar Pradesh have been getting nightmares ever since the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government started razing their illegal properties. A similar worry recently landed a Delhi riots accused in the cop net as he made a call to inquire about his house.

“I just want to know if my house is OK. Has the police demolished it or has someone grabbed it?,” asked the accused on the call that led the police to him, two years after the riots rocked the national capital.

The police tracked this call made by the 33-year-old accused to his neighbour. Identified as Mohammed Wasim, the accused had been hiding in various parts of Uttar Pradesh and finally settling down in Aligarh under a false name.

Wasim had been declared a proclaimed offender for his alleged role in killing a head constable and causing injuries to over 50 policemen in the Northeast Delhi riots of 2020.

To dodge the cops, Wasim not only changed his name and destroyed the phone he was using during the riots, but he also refrained from contacting his family for two years. He has two kids and his family fled their home in Delhi’s Dayalpur area, Indian Express quoted officials.

Wasim's role in Delhi riots

Accused of making crude bombs and attacking cops, Wasim and four of his associates have been on the run for the last two years, even as police managed to arrest 22 persons for rioting and killing Head Constable Ratan Lal.

Wasim and his associates have also been accused of placing rude bombs on the terrace of houses in a lane and he also allegedly attacked Lal and other policemen.

2020 riots that rocked Delhi

Deadly riots broke out in Delhi on February 24, 2020 following the anti-CAA protests. More than 53 people were killed, including IB officer Ankit Sharma and Lal, and more than 500 people were injured over five days of violence and clashes in the national capital.

Back then, more than 700 cases were registered and over 2,500 persons were arrested on various charges, including rioting, murder, robbery, assault, criminal conspiracy, and sections under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The police identified most of the accused with the CCTVs and arrested 22 persons but Wasim and four others were declared proclaimed offenders after they absconded. Various techniques were used to trace them and sources were also deployed in and around Delhi to look for the accused.

Delhi riots accused Wasim arrested from Aligarh

The police later discovered that one of the accused, Mohammed Wasim, was living clandestinely in Aligarh and was working in a small factory. He was later arrested.

During interrogation, the police found that Wasim allegedly attended protests at Chand Bagh and other areas where he met “anti-social elements”. Not only this, Wasim and his associates filled glass bottles with thinner (chemical) and placed them on top of multiple houses in the Chand Bagh area and they also threw these bottles at cops while lighting them on fire. An official said that police have the video of the same.

Police said Wasim also allegedly attacked Lal and other policemen with stones and improvised weapons.