The riots broke out after several BJP leaders including Kapil Mishra gave speeches inciting violence against those protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act in February 2020.As many as 53 people, two-thirds belonging to the Muslim community, were killed in the violence. Vehicles were gutted and shops were destroyed. The dead also included over a dozen Hindus.The Delhi Police has registered more than 750 FIRs in connection with the incident. Nearly 2,000 people were arrested by the police in the following months as it continued the investigation.Student leaders and human rights activists who were at the forefront of the anti-CAA protests were picked up by the police, accusing them of being the masterminds behind the violence. The arrested activists include Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Safoora Zargar, Asif Iqbal Tanha, Meeran Haider, former Congress councillor Ishrat Jahan, Shifa-Ur-Rehman, Gulshan Fatima, Khalid Safi, Shadab Ahmed, Tasleem Ahmed, Mohd. Saleem Khan, Athar Khan, Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal, and former Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain.The courts have repeatedly pulled up the Delhi Police for its “shoddy probe” into the cases. Till now, of all, 47 people have been convicted while more than 180 have been acquitted. Around 1,700 accused are currently out on bail. Meanwhile, several of the accused like Sharjeel Imam remain in jail without trial.
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