India, Oct. 30 -- The Delhi Police on Thursday strongly opposed the release of student activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and three others booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots conspiracy case, arguing before the Supreme Court that the alleged offences involved a deliberate attempt to destabilise the state and therefore warranted "jail and not bail".

In a 177-page affidavit filed a day before the matter is scheduled to come up for hearing, the police contended that the violence that unfolded in February 2020 was not a spontaneous escalation of protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), but part of a coordinated "regime change operation" executed under the guise of c...