Jahangirpuri Clashes- Delhi Police to use scientific tools of investigation from FRS to video analytics to nail down the culprits
New Delhi, April 18
Barely when the scars of the North East riots healed, Delhi witnessed clashes between two communities in Jahangirpuri during the Hanuman Jayanti ‘Shobha Yatra’. The Delhi Crime Branch that has taken over the investigation will now use FRS (face recognition software), video analytics and other scientific modes of investigation to nail down the culprits.
The Shobha Yatra that was passing through Jahangirpuri, an area in north west Delhi, in its pre decided and permitted route was allegedly stopped, attacked leading to several injuries and rioting disturbing the law and order in the area and the national capital.
The Delhi Police heavily came down on the rioters within hours of the incident and have so far arrested 23 persons including two juveniles.
The police zeroed in on one of the accused, Mohd Ansar, who has turned out to be the main conspirator and key accused who allegedly pre planned a skirmish and disturb the procession.
Ansar is a historysheeter who was born in JJ cluster in Jahangirpuri. He is a scrap dealer in the same area and also was actively involved in the anti CAA and NRC protests in the area. There are seven cases registered against Ansar under the Arms Act, attack on police and other charges.
While Ansar's wife Sakina alleged that her husband has been framed, Ansar who has no remorse appeared in the Rohini court in Jhukega Nahi signature move of movie 'Pushpa' movie. He was seen looking at the cameras of the media outside the court where he twice did the Pushpa move while smiling at the cameras.
Another accused who was identified as the one shooting on the police was Mohd Aslam. Aslam allegedly fired at the Sub Inspector Meda Lal who suffered a bullet injury. Eight policemen were injured in the clashes.
The other accused have been identified as Zahid (20), Shahjad (33), Mukhtyaar Ali (28), Mohd Ali (18), Amir (19), Aksar (26), Noor Alam (28), Zakir (22), Md Akram (22), Md Imtiyaz (29), Mohd Ali (27), Ahid Khan (35), Salim (36) Sheikh Saurabh (42), Suraj (21), Neeraj (19), Suken (45), Suresh (43), Sujeet Sarkar (38).
The FIR registered on the complaint of Inspector Rajiv Ranjan Singh, states “It was a peaceful shobha yatra procession to mark Hanuman Jayanti, but around 6 pm, when they reached a mosque in C-block, a man, identified as Mohd Ansar, along with four-five associates came and started arguing with the people involved in the yatra. The argument escalated and stone-pelting started from both sides, and a stampede ensued.”
Inspector Ranjan further states in the FIR that following the argument, he requested those involved to make peace and they had dispersed. “… But within minutes, both sides again started pelting stones and raising slogans. I informed the control room and additional forces rushed to the spot. Senior officers asked them to be peaceful, but one side was constantly doing stone-pelting and we fired 40-50 tear shells to disperse the crowd. We controlled the crowd but, in the meantime, they also attacked police personnel. Sub-inspector Meda Lal received a gunshot injury, and six-seven policemen and a local were also injured.”
The investigation so far in the clashes by the North West District police had nailed down the main accused and other accused. The investigation has also found that it was a conspiracy and the motive behind the conspiracy is under probe.
The investigation that has been taken over by the Delhi Crime Branch will use specialized modes of scientific investigation. Delhi Crime Branch has formed a special investigation team that will base the probe on scientific investigation.
The Delhi Crime Branch stated that over 100 CCTV footages from the spot have been collected which are being analysed to ascertain the sequence of events. The FRS would be used on the CCTV footages to ascertain the identity of the accused at the spot.
In addition to that, the crime branch will be also probing the social media space and videos collected on the Jahangirpuri clashes. The video analytics would be used to ascertain the authenticity of the videos.
The investigation will also take into account the dump data analysis to see the presence of other suspects in the area. The call data records, social media handles and other details of the arrested accused to see if there is evidence on pre-planned conspiracy.
The police stated that the investigation based on the scientific investigation will prove the involvement of the accused in the riots who pelted stones at each other and fired at the police when attempt was made to stop the crowd from both the sides.
Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana said, "The police are carrying out a fair investigation and looking into all aspects of the case. We will arrest the culprits against whom we have evidence irrespective of class, creed or sect. We have formed 14 teams to investigate this case which would be done in a scientific way. The teams have already started the probe. The case is under thorough investigation".
