Shocking findings have made their way from the investigations of the horrific Delhi Riots of February 2020. A report by The Wire has revealed that how a WhatsApp group of Hindutva supporters planned murders, rapes of Muslims during the riots post BJP leader Kapil Mishra’s controversial speech.
A message from the group dated 26th February on around 11:44 pm read, ” Tumhare Bhai ne abhi 9 bje k krib b.vihar m 2 mulla mare hai (Your buddy has just killed two mullahs [the derogatory word used for Muslims] in Bhagirathi Vihar at around 9 pm)” says the report. The next morning dead bodies of two brothers – Mohammad Aamir and Hashim Ali, aged 30 and 16 were found from the said area.
While the Delhi police say the riots are a conspiracy hatched by students and activists involved in the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protest to discredit the Modi government it first time mentioned the group last month. The group was involved in mobilizing crowds and organizing deadly acts of violence. Delhi Police Additional PRO Anil Mittal gave an explanation of that.
“During the investigation of these cases, it was found that during the peak rioting, a ‘Whatsapp’ group was created in the intervening night of 25/26.02.2020, which had 125 members. Two active members of this ‘Whatsapp’ group were located and joined in the investigation. During the investigation, their mobile phones were scanned and the specific ‘Whatsapp’ group created on 25.02 was also identified. During the further investigation, it was revealed that while some members of these groups were only sending and receiving chats, few others were involved in active rioting“, he said.
The WhatsApp group was first named ‘Kattar Hindut Ekta (a misspelling of ‘Kattar Hindu Ekta’). This was later changed to ‘Hindu Ekta Zindabad.’ The name was changed at least four times to such titles as ‘Hindu Unity’ and ‘Hindu Ekta Group. Messages like ‘Hindu khatre mein hai. hai and ‘Hindu Rashtra’ was a common occurrence with frequent refence to Kapil Mishra’s speech. Targeting of Madarsas’s. Mosques and Muslims were planned.
The Delhi Police filed 700 criminal cases in the aftermath of the riots and filed a number of charge sheets. The investigations are still going on and new revelations like this are coming to the forefront putting the picture in a clear frame. Though cases of rios have never got the concrete and conclusive investigations it is up to the police how much fact-finding and revelations on the matter they can do. For detailed report on this click here.
