The Delhi Police on Wednesday charged Sharjeel Imam, a Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student, under the strict Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for his involvement in the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) near Jamia Millia Islamia University in December 2019.

The UAPA permits the government to prohibit individuals as terrorists and empowers officers of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe cases. A person charged under this Act can be imprisoned for up to seven years.

The police had earlier charged the JNU student with sedition, accusing him of encouraging hostility between individuals and for inciting riots.

Imam is currently in police custody.

His lawyer Ahmad Ibrahim said that they will take legal action in the matter.

‘The police has added UAPA provisions on the 88th day [of arrest] with the intention of keeping him jail for a longer time,’ he told Hindustan Times.

Delhi Police spokesperson Anil Mittal said that Imam was arrested for his involvement in the Jamia violence on December 13 and 15, 2019, for ‘instigating and abetting the Jamia riots, due to his seditious speech on December 13’.

‘Based on evidence collected, Sections 124A [sedition] and 153A [promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth] of the Indian Penal Code were also invoked,’ the spokesperson added.

Imam was involved in organizing protests at Shaheen Bagh after a video showed him making inflammatory remarks before a gathering at Aligarh Muslim University, after which he was booked under sedition charges.

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