Delhi Riots: Kapil Mishra Questioned By Police In July; BJP Leader Denied Giving Any Hate Speech, Says Chargesheet

Mishra said that the remarks he had made while standing next to a senior police officer were only an announcement of his demonstration that he would lead in the following days.

(File Photo/ Getty)

New Delhi: Months after communal violence was witnessed in the national capital over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the Delhi Police in its chargesheet stated that it has Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kapil Mishra in the last week of July in connection with the North East Delhi roits which took place in February. During the questioning, Mishra agreed to have visited the area to resolve conflicts, but had not delivered any speech, a report by Indian Express said. Mishra also said that the remarks he had made while standing next to a senior police officer were only an announcement of his demonstration that he would lead in the following days. On February 23, Mishra gave the Delhi Police a three-day ultimatum to get the Jafrabad anti-Citizenship Act protest site cleared. Post this statement by the BJP leader, mobs fanned out to the local areas, openly carrying various weapons and arms causing severe damage to lives and properties of many. Communal clashes had broken out between the supporters of the Citizenship Amendment Act and those opposing it between February 23 and 26 in North East Delhi, killing at least 55 people and injuring hundreds. The violence was the worst in Delhi since the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. Several held Delhi Police responsible and said that the failure to prevent violence was not due to individual or sporadic breaches but was a pattern of deliberate inaction over several days. Political opponents of the BJP and others who were protesting against the Citizenship law alleged that in an orchestrated move, Mishra left the place after having incited the crowd, "after which violence erupted in Jaffrabad and the peaceful protesters were forced to run for safety." On February 23 itself, Mishra had tweeted a video, where he was seen addressing a gathering of CAA supporters along with a police officer standing right next to him. “They [protestors] want to create trouble in Delhi and that is why they have closed the roads. They have created a riot-like situation here. We have not pelted stones. The DCP is standing in front of us and on your behalf, I want to tell him that till the US President is in India, we are leaving the area peacefully. After that, we won’t even listen Police and if the roads are not vacated by then, we will have to take to the streets,” Mishra said in the viral video. However, when questioned regarding the same from Delhi Police, Mishtra said that he was only requesting Police to vacate the protest site in three days, or else he would start his demonstration.