A deleted text message, sent by Umar Khalid to Kanhaiya Kumar — both booked for sedition, is among the evidence collected by the Delhi Police in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) sedition case. In the message, sources said, Khalid asked Kumar to come to the Sabarmati dhaba, which is located on the JNU campus, on February 9, 2016.
It was at the dhaba where “anti-national” slogans were allegedly raised by students, who had gathered to mark the anniversary of the hanging of Afzal Guru, who was executed for masterminding the 2001 Parliament attack.
Sources claim that the Delhi Police has evidence to show that Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya were the “main conspirators” involved in organising the protest. The sources said that the Delhi Police has recovered an email in which Khalid and Bhattacharya used talked about “azadi [freedom] of Kashmir” from “occupation of India”.
Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya, Aquib Hussain, Mujeeb Hussain, Muneeb Hussain, Umar Gul, Rayeea Rassol, Bashir Bhat and Basharat, are all those who have been chargesheeted in the JNU sedition case.
Sources claimed that the Delhi Police has technical evidence to show that the accused were in touch with one another before the February 9, 2016 event at the Sabarmati dhaba.
Among the evidence is a text message allegedly sent by Umar Khalid to Kanahiya Kumar, asking the latter to come to Sabarmati dhaba. This message, sources said, was deleted but was later retrieved by the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in New Delhi.
Witnesses have also identified Kanhaiya Kumar participating in the event and raising slogans, the sources said. However, there is no video that conclusively establishes that Kanahiya Kumar raised anti-India slogans.
Such video evidence is there against Umar Khalid, however. The source claimed that mobile phone clips show Umar Khalid chanting “anti-India” slogans and that the CFSL has certified these video clips as non-tampered.
The other evidence against Umar Khalid include his mobile phone call history, which the sources said showed up locations corresponding to the February 9, 2016 event. The call history also shows that Umar Khalid was in touch with Kanhaiya Kumar, Anirban Bhattacharya and the other accused.
The sources also said that both Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya have admitted to chanting “anti-India” slogans. However, their admissions were to police officers and so cannot be used as evidence in court.
