Sharjeel Imam chargesheeted by Delhi Police in UAPA case

Delhi Police on Saturday filed a chargesheet against JNU student  Sharjeel Imam in connection with a case related to his alleged seditious speech during the anti-citizenship amendment act protests.

The chargesheet, filed in Delhi`s Patiala House court today, said that Imam openly defied the Constitution of India and called it a "fascist" document.

According to the police, the chargesheet has been filed under several relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act including sedition, promoting enmity between groups, and spreading rumors, etc.Police said that he is accused of delivering seditious speeches and inciting a particular section of the community to indulge in unlawful activities, detrimental to the sovereignty and the integrity of the nation.

A series of videos went viral on social media where it could be seen that Imam, the chief co-ordinator of the protest at Shaheen Bagh, was saying, "If all of us come together, we can separate the Northeast from India. If we cannot do it permanently, then at least for 1-2 months we can do this. It will take the administration at least one month to disperse all of them."

Imam had backed his statements by insisting that Muslims in Assam are already being put in detention centres owing to the NRC already having been applied there. "We may come to know in 6-8 months that all Bengalis, irrespective of Hindus or Muslims, have been killed," Imam had said, adding, "It is our responsibility to cut Assam from India. When this will happen, only then the Centre will listen to us."

"In the garb of protesting against the CAA 2019, he exhorted people of a particular community to block the highways leading to the major cities and resort to `Chakka Jam`, thereby disrupting normal life," the Delhi Police said in the chargesheet."He also openly defied the Constitution and called it a `fascist` document. In the name of opposing the CAA, he also openly propagated blocking the `chicken neck` connecting the mainland-India with the northeast," it added.

Imam is being probed for his alleged inflammatory speech at Jamia Millia Islamia on December 13 and subsequently on January 16 at Aligarh Muslim University, where he allegedly threatened to "cut off" Assam and the rest of the Northeast from India. 

He is currently lodged at Guwahati Central Jail. The police had earlier submitted before the court that after his speech on December 13, widespread arson and violence took place in various parts of Delhi and that several protest sites emerged after his January 16 speech.

Earlier, a Delhi court granted an extension of 90 days to the Delhi Police to conclude the investigation and file a chargesheet in the case.

(With ANI inputs)