Numerous complaints filed before the police by residents of northeast Delhi accused BJP leaders of participating in or orchestrating the violence that swept the national capital in February. The party leaders named in these complaints include Satya Pal Singh, a member of parliament from Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat constituency who formerly served as Mumbai’s commissioner of police; Nand Kishore Gujjar, UP’s member of legislative assembly from Loni; Mohan Singh Bisht, the MLA from Delhi’s Karawal Nagar constituency; Kapil Mishra, the former MLA from Karawal Nagar; and Jagdish Pradhan, a former Delhi MLA from the Mustafabad constituency, who was defeated in the assembly elections held weeks before the violence broke out.
The complaints contained accusations ranging from leading a mob while brandishing a gun, to inciting violence, to eyewitnesses recounting cold-blooded murder, to police officials burning and looting a mosque and directing their subordinates to send the money to a BJP parliamentarian. Several of the complaints were copied to the prime minister’s office, the ministry of home affairs, the Delhi lieutenant governor’s office and multiple police stations. Many of them bore the stamp of the office or station that received the complaint, sometimes bearing multiple receiving stamps.
Despite the gravity of the accusations against Kapil Mishra and the other BJP leaders, no action was taken against any of them. For all intents and purposes, the Delhi Police appears to have buried these complaints. Over May and June this year, The Caravan interviewed several complainants about what they witnessed during the violence and the allegations in their complaints. Not one of the complainants retracted the accusations in their complaint, though several of them expressed concerns for their safety.
Kapil Mishra accused of leading mobs in Kardampuri
Mohammad Jami Rizvi, a resident of Yamuna Vihar in northeast Delhi, filed a police complaint in relation to the Delhi violence on 24 February. In an interview with The Caravan on 6 June, Rizvi recounted what he had witnessed and stated in his complaint.
Rizvi's complaint bore the receiving stamps of the Prime Minister's Office, the ministry of home affairs, the lieutenant governor's office and the Delhi commissioner of police's office. It was not registered as an FIR.
Eyewitness says police assured Kapil Mishra of brutal attack on protesters
Rubina Bano, a resident of Chand Bagh in northeast Delhi, filed a police complaint in relation to the Delhi violence on 18 March. In an interview with The Caravan on 22 May, Bano recounted what she had witnessed and stated in her complaint.
The Delhi Police did not register Bano's complaint as an FIR. She said she continues to face pressure from the police to withdraw her complaint, and that she will not back down.
Chand Bagh resident says police did not accept complaint naming accused officers
A resident of Chand Bagh in northeast Delhi, who wished to remain anonymous, filed a police complaint in relation to the Delhi violence on 19 March. In an interview on 1 June, she said, "When the police officers come, they just ask about the people that I have identified in my complaint: ‘If you withdraw the names, then we’ll register the report,’” she said.
Her complaint bore the receiving stamp of the Gokulpuri police station. It was not registered as an FIR.
An eyewitness account of police brutality and intimidation at Chand Bagh
Imrana Parveen, a resident of Chand Bagh in northeast Delhi, filed a police complaint in relation to the Delhi violence on 11 March. In an interview with The Caravan on 1 June, Parveen recounted what she stated in her complaint about police violence she witnessed at Chand Bagh on 24 and 25 February. She said police officials tore of a photo of BR Ambedkar at the anti-CAA protest site and said, “If your Bhimrao Ambedkar can't even protect himself, how will he protect you?”
Parveen’s complaint bore the stamps of the prime minister’s office, the ministry of home affairs, the lieutenant governor’s office, the commissioner of police’s office and the Dayalpur police station. The police station also recorded the complaint at entry number 53 in its daily diary. It was not registered as an FIR.
A 22-year-old recounts losing his arm to an explosive in the Delhi violence
On 15 March, Akram Khan, a 22-year-old resident of Chand Bagh in northeast Delhi, filed a police complaint in relation to the Delhi violence. He recounted the attack and the events that followed. For over a month, Khan was admitted at the GTB Hospital and underwent multiple operations before he was discharged.
The Delhi Police claimed that Khan had fabricated his complaint to claim compensation awarded to survivors of the February violence. But upon a closer scrutiny, it became clear that the police version did not hold water. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Khan was taken to Mehar Nursing Home for first aid, which is located near the site of the attack. But if he suffered his injuries in a car accident at Shastri Park, as claimed by the police, it would defy logic to take him to both hospitals. The Delhi Police did not register an FIR against Khan’s complaint.
A shop owner witnessed a Hindu mob loot his shop and blow it up with an explosive
On 19 March, Ilyas, a resident of Mustafabad in northeast Delhi, filed his second police complaint in relation to the destruction of his shop during the Delhi violence. He recounted the attack and why he was compelled to file a second complaint.
Ilyas said that Ashish Garg, the investigating officer in his case, threatened to implicate him in a murder case when Ilyas questioned the omission of crucial details, including the explosive used and the names of the accused, in the FIR. When contacted, Garg said he was on medical leave and refused to answer any questions. Pramod Joshi, the station house officer of the Gokulpuri police station, discussed the case, but he too dismissed questions about the police's failure to investigate the allegation about the use of explosives. “How will a bomb be used over here?” Joshi asked. The Delhi Police has not registered an FIR against Ilyas's second complaint.
A Karawal Nagar resident watched helpless as a mob murdered his brother
Saleem Kassar, a shop owner and resident of Karawal Nagar, said he witnessed a mob tie an explosive to his brother's leg, shoot him, and then throw his body into a fire. “There was a massive explosion," Kassar said. "That’s when I realised that what they were tying to his leg was a bomb.”
The FIR registered against Kassar's first complaint, on 27 February, omitted the names of the accused and the use of an explosive in the attack, though Kassar said he had mentioned these details. On 9 March, Kassar filed another complaint to specify these details, but the police did not register another FIR.
On 24 February 2020, Mohammad Furkan, a 30-year-old resident of northeast Delhi’s Kardampuri area, was shot dead during the Delhi violence. He was declared brought dead at the GTB Hospital that evening, and a post-mortem report confirmed two bullet wounds.
Ruksana Khatoon and Malka, both residents of Kardampuri, said they witnessed Harveer Singh Bhati, a Delhi Police official, shoot and kill Furkan at the anti-CAA protest site in Kardampuri, without provocation, on 24 February. They said they were present in the area that day, and described the circumstances leading up to his death.
The Delhi Police arrested four Muslim men from Kardampuri for the murder, with scant evidence, and submitted a chargesheet with significant omissions. Queries were emailed to numerous Delhi Police officials, including Bhati, the public-relations officer and the commissioner of police, but none responded.
This story is periodically updated with new video testimonies.