Salman Khurshid, Brinda Karat named in Delhi riots charge sheet; accused for provocative speeches
New Delhi: Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Salman Khurshid, CPM leader Brinda Karat and Udit Raj were among politicians who gave provocative speeches during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), alleged Delhi police in the charge sheet filed in connection with the February riots here.
Police have referted to former Congress Councillor Ishrat Jahan and a protected witness in a case related to the north east Delhi riots and said that they told about the speeches in their disclosure statements given to the them.
The charge sheet said that the protected witness have stated in the statement recorded, under section 161 (examination by police) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, that several big names like politician Udit Raj, Khurshid, Karat had come to the Khureji protest site and gave "provocative speech".
"Several big names used to come to the Khureji site to give speeches against CAA/NPR (National Population Register)/NRC (National Register for Citizens), like Udit Raj, Salman, Khurshid, Brinda Karat, Umar Khalid (former JNU student leader)...," the witness alleged.
The charge sheet further said that Jahan, in her disclosure statement, alleged that in order to sustain the anti-CAA protests, several known persons like Khurshid, filmmaker Rahul Roy and Bhim Army member Himanshu were called by her and activist Khalid Saifi on the instructions of Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC).
"In order to sustain the protest for a long time, several known persons were called by me and Khalid Saifi on the instructions of JCC, like Salman Kurshid, (filmmaker) Rahul Roy, Bhim Army member Himanshu, Chandan Kumar... gave provocative speeches because of which all the people sitting in the protest used to get instigated against the government," Jahan said according to her disclosure statement.
The disclosure statement of Saifi stated that during the anti-CAA protests held in January 2020 "Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogender Yadav, (senior advocate) Prashant Bhushan, Salman Kurshid... also used to come to these speeches."
The supplementary disclosure statement of Saifi, which was a part of the charge sheet, stated that in order to sustain the protest for a longer time several known persons like Khurshid, JNU student Sharjeel Imam, JCC member Meeran Haider were called to the Khureji protest site.
"In order to sustain the protest for a longer time several known persons like Kurshid, Sharjeel Imam, Meeran Haider etc were called to the Khureji protest site by me and Ishrat Jahan," he said in his disclosure statement.
Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.
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Commercial LPG price hiked by Rs 993 per 19-kg cylinder
New Delhi (PTI): The price of commercial LPG was hiked by the steepest ever Rs 993 per 19-kg cylinder on Friday, marking the third straight monthly increase due to rising global energy prices linked to the West Asia conflict.
A 19-kg commercial LPG - used by establishments such as hotels and restaurtants - now costs a record Rs 3,071.5 in Delhi as against Rs 2,078.50 previously.
Rates were last increased by 195.50 per cylinder on April 1. Prior to that, prices had gone up by Rs 114.5 per 19-kg cylinder on March 1.
In three increases, commercial LPG rates have gone up by Rs 1,303.
Prices of domestic cooking gas LPG - the one used in household kitchens - remained unchanged. Domestic LPG rates were last hiked by Rs 60 per 14.2-kg cylinder on March 7. It costs Rs 913 per 14.2-kg cylinder in Delhi.
State-owned Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum revise ATF and LPG prices on the first day of every month based on international benchmarks and the exchange rate.
Global oil prices have shot up almost 50 per cent after the war in West Asia disrupted energy supply chains.
Petrol and diesel prices continue to remain frozen after a Rs 2 per-litre reduction in March last year; petrol currently costs Rs 94.72 per litre in Delhi and diesel Rs 87.62.
