The police collaborated with the rioters in Delhi in most cases and apparently tortured anti-CAA protesters in custody.
Riot after riot in India has shown how political incitement can incite chaos and police conspiracy can sound the death ring for the targeted community. The anti-Muslim riot in Delhi is carried out over three days and nights was no exceptions. But here the similarity ends.
In a departure of past instances of communal violence, where occasionally the police assisted, turned a blind eye to or covered up a crime, here they participated fully with the Hindu mobs running frantically in Muslim localities of North-east Delhi. Several videos and eyewitness accounts, including those of journalist exposed the role of the Delhi police in the acceleration of violence.
They did not even pretend to control the arson and looting. In fact, they pelted stones, fired tear gas shells and threw hand grenades on Muslim homes while running with the Hindu mobs. An activist said that the one instance when their family was searching for a missing son, the police told them they had taken him to a hospital but refused to disclose which one. The family reported later that an eyewitness had told them that when the boy ran to the police for help, he was pushed back to the mob, which dragged him away, he has been missing since then.