9/11 attack comparison in Delhi riots case: Umar Khalid bail hearing

A high-profile case connected to the 2020 Delhi riots reportedly saw a parallel being drawn with the 9/11 terror attack in America in 2001.

During a hearing regarding the bail plea of Umar Khalid, an accused in northeast Delhi violence case, a special public prosecutor invoked the deadly attacks by al Qaeda. After Umar Khalid reportedly claimed that he had sent only 5 messages on a WhatsApp group and was not present at the site of violence, SPP Amit Prasad said that even during the 9/11 attack, the masterminds were not on US soil.

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The prosecutor reportedly said that on February 17, there were indications of violence breaking out during the protest, and these messages were sent on the group in question. However, Umar Khalid remained silent in the group, he said.

The prosecutor further claimed that the issues behind the protest were triple talaq and Babri masjid demolition, and not the Citizenship Amendment Act.

In early 2020, violence had broken out in Delhi after groups clashed over the contentious CAA. Over 50 people had died.

Recently, the first conviction in cases related to the violence had been handed out to accused Dinesh Yadav. He was sentenced to 5 years of rigorous imprisonment by a Delhi court for trespassing into the house of a woman named Manori Devi, and setting it on fire.