Written by Nirbhay ThakurNew Delhi | October 9, 2025 06:18 AM IST 3 min readFacing charges under the anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, in connection to the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots larger conspiracy case, activist Umar Khalid told a trial court on Wednesday that he wasn’t even present at the “main conspiratorial meeting” where the “entire conspiracy” was allegedly hatched.“This is one of the main incidents that I have been roped in for… My only submission is that the main meeting in which I have supposedly conspired, I haven’t been present in,” said senior advocate Trideep Pais on behalf of Khalid.Relying on the call details records (CDR) of the accused who allegedly attended this meeting on January 8, 2020 — a month-and-a-half before the riots broke out — Pais said: “All the timings may be seen. Compare them. They (accused persons) couldn’t have met.”Corroborating the CDR with the allegations in the chargesheet, Pais added: “Does the police want to rely on this, they have to decide… According to an analysis of CDR charts, they weren’t even there at the meeting.”Pais was referring to the statements of protected witness Saturn, made before Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai of Karkardooma Court, during arguments on charge.“Your honor may question the veracity… why did they wait for three months before questioning? Events are of January 8. Purportedly he is present. He is interrogated on May 21. He doesn’t mention this meeting then. Why was a statement taken on September 27? A few days later, Khalid is arrested,” Pais argued.“My client was not present during the riots, no recoveries were made from him and no allegation of receipt or raising of funds have emerged,” he said.Story continues below this adKhalid is one of the 18 accused in the “larger conspiracy” case. While six are out on bail, the rest are in jail and have already spent over five years in prison.Previously, Khalid had argued that the whole case against him was “fabricated” and “reverse engineered”. “There is a target on somebody’s back. How to reach the target is the point of the chargesheet. You first decide who to catch and then reverse engineering takes place… a whole case is fabricated against them,” Pais had said earlier.The riots, which broke out in late February 2020, left 53 dead and over 700 injured. In all, 751 FIRs were lodged in the matter.According to the Delhi Police Special Cell, the riots were the result of months-long “deep-rooted” conspiracy allegedly hatched after the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was approved by the Cabinet in December 2019. The conspiracy allegedly pertained to the creation of multiple protest sites – which operated 24×7 – in Muslim-majority areas, close to mosques and main roads.Story continues below this adThe Special Cell has also alleged that all the accused were part of a conspiracy to “escalate” the protest to a chakka jam “once critical mass is generated, when then US President Donald Trump visits Delhi in 2020”. In its chargesheet, the agency has called Khalid a “veteran of sedition”.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd