Delhi riots larger conspiracy case: Delhi Police oppose bail for Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam; call riots a pre-planned attempt to destabilise the State
In its affidavit, the police described the violence as a “deep-rooted, premeditated and orchestrated conspiracy.”
Parmod Kumar
30 October 2025
THE DELHI POLICE TODAY opposed before the Supreme Court the bail pleas of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider and Shifa Ur Rehman in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (‘UAPA’) case linked to the alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 north-east Delhi riots, asserting that the offences reflected a deliberate and coordinated attempt to destabilise the State.
In its affidavit, the police described the violence as a “deep-rooted, premeditated and orchestrated conspiracy,” claiming it was timed to coincide with the visit of the then US President Donald Trump to India. The intention, it said, was to “draw the attention of international media and project the Citizenship Amendment Act (‘CAA’) as an act of persecution against the Muslim community.”
“The materials on record, including chats referencing US President Donald Trump, establish beyond doubt that the conspiracy was pre-planned to coincide with his official visit. The purpose was to internationalise the CAA issue by portraying it as a pogrom against the Muslim community in India,” the affidavit stated.
The Delhi Police further said that the issue of CAA was “carefully chosen to act as a radicalising catalyst, camouflaged under the guise of peaceful protest.”
According to the affidavit, the conspiracy led to the death of 53 people, widespread damage to public property, and the registration of 753 FIRs in Delhi alone. “Evidence on record suggests that this conspiracy was designed to be replicated on a pan-India scale,” it claimed.
“The materials on record, including chats referencing US President Donald Trump, establish beyond doubt that the conspiracy was pre-planned to coincide with his official visit,” the affidavit stated.
The affidavit was filed in response to the bail petitions of Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid, Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, and Shifa-ur-Rehman, who have challenged the Delhi High Court’s order denying them bail in the UAPA case relating to the alleged larger conspiracy behind the riots.
The police maintained that both documentary and technical evidence establish the “intrinsic, deep-rooted, fervent complicity” of the accused in “engineering riots on communal lines” across the country. “The conspiracy hatched, nurtured, and executed by the petitioners sought to strike at the very heart of the sovereignty and integrity of India by destroying communal harmony and instigating armed rebellion,” the affidavit alleged.
It further described such organised protests as “Regime Change Operations” and argued that, in cases striking at the integrity of India, “jail and not bail” must remain the norm.