Five men in plain clothes claiming to be from UP Police today ‘arrested’ Aligarh Muslim University Ex-student Sharjeel Usmani from his native place in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh. Usmani was booked by Uttar Pradesh Police in connection with several cases in connection with the violence that broke out during anti-CAA protests in Aligarh, last year.
Here are five components of the story:
- Sharjeel was a student of Political Science at Aligarh Muslim University.
- He was actively involved in pro-democracy protests against CAA and since had been vocal about issues pertaining to Democracy and Indian Muslims on his social media handles. He has also been writing for numerous publications including First Post and Newslundary.
- According to his family members, five unknown people claiming to be from UP Crime Branch picked him from outside his house in Azamgarh.
- “ There was no warrant, no receiving, and all of them were in plain clothes. They also took away his laptop and books with them,” a family member told Karvaan India. The Police, however, has not confirmed his arrest so far.
- His father Amir Usmani refused to acknowledge this as an arrest “They came without ant warrant, in plain clothes, and took his away, this is not how a legitimate arresting is done,” he told Karvaan India
- He was booked by Aligarh Police under – 307 (Attempt to Murder), as also 147 (Rioting), 148, 149, 153, 188, 189, 332, 336, 504, 506, Section 4 and 7 of CLA. All five FIRs are directly related to the protests held from 10 to 15 December at Aligarh Muslim University.