Northeast Delhi riots: Two years on, scars run deep and relief a trickle

NEW DELHI: It’s been two years since communal riots broke out in northeast Delhi. While 53 people were killed, several were severely injured and scores of families were left devastated in the large-scale arson and violence that engulfed the area for over 48 hours. In the aftermath of the violence, Delhi Police filed over 750 FIRs and arrested more than 1,800 people.
Two years later, police have filed chargesheets in 352 of these cases and charges have been framed in 86. Verdicts, either acquittal or conviction, have come in 16 cases.

While three Crime Branch SITs are probing 62 important cases, including the 53 murders, 695 cases of incidents like arson, loot and assault are being investigated by the Northeast district police. The conspiracy angle behind the riots is being probed by Special Cell.
For Delhi Police, probing the riots was a unique challenge. The last time violence of this scale occurred was more around three decades ago. The then police commissioner, SN Shrivastava, who had taken charge of the force just after the riots, ensured that not a single genuine complaint went unregistered. As a result, cops were left with at least 753 FIRs.
Special camps were organised to facilitate registration of offences and Crime Branch teams were deployed to assist local police in ensuring registration of all prima facie verified complaints. At the initial stage of investigation, people were requested through public notices to come forward and share information they had in the form of CCTV footage, mobile recordings or photographs.
The pandemic was a major hindrance. In both Covid-19 waves, some eyewitnesses and victims left the city and went to their native places. “Due to Covid-19 and the nature of riot cases, there were several impediments in investigation, but remedies were worked out and executed successfully,” said an officer.
“Bringing eyewitnesses in the investigation became very tough. Moreover, several people who witnessed the riots either shifted somewhere else or were reluctant to cooperate in the probe,” the officer added.
A special focus was laid upon collection of electronic or documentary evidences. Technical tools were used to a large extent.
Cops had a mammoth task of scanning thousands of viral videos, CCTV footage and preparing a data bank. “We extracted details of every call and checked what action was taken. We started checking uncountable videos and CCTV footage and zeroed in on the rioters and crime spot. A database was prepared, which helped investigators in their probe,” said the officer.
Shrivastava retired in June 2021 after which Raksh Asthana took over the reins of the force. By this time, the trials had commenced.
After investigation, representing these matters before the courts in an effective manner was a challenge too. “A few adverse orders were passed in some cases by courts. The challenge was to rectify the shortcomings and argue the prosecution’s case effectively,” another investigator said. A team of policemen started analysing the orders and making amends.
Asthana formed a special investigation cell to ensure proper scrutiny of cases. It consisted of four senior IPS officers to analyse ongoing cases and chalk out a time-bound strategy to ensure an expeditious probe and effective prosecution. Dedicated pairvi teams were formed and focus was given on better coordination with special public prosecutors, who were appointed to represent the state.
DCP (Northeast) Sanjay Kumar Sain said investigation was conducted in a professional and fair manner based on merit. “We have achieved success in our investigation as charges have been framed in a number of cases and conviction secured,” he claimed. Recently, two policemen, inspector Tanveer Ashraf and assistant sub-inspector Arvind Kumar, were given Asadharan Karya Puraskar for their work in such cases.
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