Sharjeel Imam admitted videos of his speeches are genuine, not tampered with: Officials

Anti-CAA activist Sharjeel Imam, who was arrested by the Delhi Police's Crime Branch from Bihar's Jehanabad in a sedition case, admitted during interrogation that the videos of his speeches were genuine and not tampered with, officials said on Thursday.

Imam is being questioned by the police in connection with his alleged inflammatory speeches at the Jamia Millia Islamia University here and in Aligarh, they said.

During interrogation, he admitted that the videos of his speeches were genuine and not tampered with, the officials said.

However, all videos of his speeches have been sent to a forensic science laboratory for examination, they said.

Besides, his social media accounts and call record details are also being examined to see who he was in touch with, they added.

Police said they are probing if words in the speeches are Sharjeel's own views or if he was representing the views of some organisation.

As part of the investigation, it is being probing if he was linked to the Islamic Youth Federation and the Popular Front of India, they said.

Imam was arrested on Tuesday. He was brought to Delhi on Wednesday and produced at the residence of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Purushottam Pathak in the evening amid tight security after which police were granted his five-day custody.

The PhD scholar at the Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre for Historical Studies has been booked for sedition and other charges in several states after videos of his alleged inflammatory speeches, made during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), were circulated on the social media.

An FIR was registered against Imam by the Delhi Police on January 25 under IPC sections 124A (sedition) and 153A (promoting or attempting to promote disharmony or feelings of enmity on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever) among others.