Delhi HC transfers to CBI case of death of man assaulted and forced to sing national anthem by cops

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) the case pertaining to the death of a 23-year-old man who was seen in a viral video being purportedly assaulted and forced to sing the national anthem during the communal riots here in 2020.

In a video clip that had gone viral on social media, Faizan, along with four other Muslim men, was seen being beaten up by policemen while being forced to sing the national anthem and "Vande Mataram".

"I am allowing the petition. I am transferring the case to CBI," said Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani on a petition filed by Faizan's mother for a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT).

Kismatun, in her plea filed in 2020, alleged that police assaulted and illegally detained her son, and denied him critical healthcare due to which he succumbed to injuries on February 26 that year after being released.

Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24, 2020, after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control, leaving at least 53 people dead and around 700 injured.

Police, in a status report filed in the court in a sealed cover in 2022, had said the process of identifying the guilty personnel was going on.

In March, they had told the court that they were awaiting the forensic analysis of certain video footage from the National Forensic Sciences University in Gujarat.