Haldwani Violence: ‘I was at the house of former BJP MP in Noida at the time of the incident’, the ‘mastermind’ made these claims in the letter given to the DGP

A few days after the arrest of Abdul Malik, who is said to be the mastermind of Haldwani violence, Uttarakhand Police arrested his son Abdul Moeed. This is the 84th arrest in this case. In the letter submitted by Malik to the authorities, it has been claimed that he was in Noida, Delhi and Greater Noida at the time of the violence. Violence broke out after the administration’s removal of encroachments campaign on February 8. During this period, a mosque and a madrassa owned by Malik were also demolished.

Six police teams were formed to catch the accused

As stone pelting took place, cars were set on fire and the local police station was surrounded by the mob. After this, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had given orders to shoot at sight. While four civilians died in the violence, several people including police personnel were injured. Nainital Police on Thursday said, “Senior Superintendent of Police, Nainital had formed six special police teams to arrest the accused. One of the teams successfully arrested Abdul Moeed from Delhi.”

In the police report, Abdul Malik is accused of instigating

Moid and Malik were made accused in FIR number 21/24 registered at Banbhulpura police station. The report was filed on the complaint of police station in-charge Neeraj Bhakuni. He had alleged that when the process of removing the encroachment began, the father-son and 14 others led the mob. The FIR alleges that he instigated the mob by saying that “they will not allow the campaign to happen because Banbhulpura is their area, our rule runs here, not the government”.

In the letter given to the police, he talked about being wrongly implicated.

However, on behalf of Malik, one of his legal representatives has said in a letter submitted to the DGP of Uttarakhand, a copy of which has also been given to the DM and SSP of Nainital, that Malik has been unfairly implicated. Speaking to The Indian Express, he said the letter was hand-delivered to the officials.

The letter claims that Malik was not in Haldwani at that time. It claims that on February 7, he and his driver spent about three hours in the restaurant of a five-star hotel in Noida for a business meeting. After this he consulted his lawyer Sudhir Tiwari. After this, at around 5 pm, he and Tiwari went to the residence of a Supreme Court lawyer in Sector 31, where they stayed for an hour. It has been claimed that after having dinner at a restaurant, Malik and his driver stayed in a hotel in Delhi.

The next day on February 8 at around 12:30 pm, Tiwari along with Tiwari went to the residence of former Rajya Sabha member of BJP Balbir Punj in Noida to give the invitation card for the wedding of Malik Tiwari’s daughter. It has been said in the letter that there Punj presented a book titled ‘Tryst with Ayodhya’ written by him. After this, Tiwari and Malik left for the residence of the former Congress MP in New Delhi.

The letter claims that after this, around 3 pm, they went to the residence of a former Union Minister in New Delhi. After this Tiwari and Malik had dinner at Radisson Hotel, Noida. It said that after dinner, Malik took Tiwari to Greater Noida, where he stayed for half an hour, after which he went to his daughter’s house in Faridabad, Haryana. There he spent the night.

The letter claims that Malik has not visited Haldwani since the incident. Speaking to The Indian Express, BJP’s Punj confirmed that Malik and his son accompanied Tiwari to his residence in Noida on February 8 and stayed there for about 45 minutes from 12.15 pm. However, he said that he did not know where Malik was before and after the said time.

Tiwari also confirmed to The Indian Express that he was with Malik from the afternoon of 7 February (except for the night when Malik stayed in a hotel) until around 8 pm on 8 February. Tiwari said, “He spent the night of February 7 in a hotel and CCTV footage also confirms this. Next day we met Balbir Punj… Later after having coffee at Radisson Hotel, we went to the house of our friend Lalit Saxena’s daughter. After 8 pm, Malik left for his daughter Muniba’s house in Faridabad.” Saxena, a lawyer by profession, also confirmed that Malik, his son and Tiwari were at his daughter’s house for about 30 minutes till 8 pm on February 8, the day of the Haldwani violence.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Uttarakhand Director General of Police Abhinav Kumar said, “Since it has been brought to my notice, we have taken cognizance of (the letter) and sent it to the district with instructions to verify whatever claim was made.” It should be thoroughly examined. If the accused is giving application in his favor then it is our duty to investigate him. After investigation, if the letter is genuine and (the claims made) are true then a report should be sent to us. First we will check the authenticity of the letter and then check the facts.”