New Delhi, February 26 – The Delhi Police revealed on Thursday that three Youth Congress workers arrested in connection with the shirtless protest during the AI Summit are not residents of Himachal Pradesh.
This followed a 24-hour standoff between the Delhi and Himachal Pradesh Police, which ended on Thursday with the latter allowing the Delhi Police to take custody of the three Youth Congress activists arrested and bring them to the national capital.
According to sources in the Delhi Police, the Youth Congress workers arrested by the Special Cell include Saurabh from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, Arbaaz from Sultanpur, and Siddharth from Rewa.
None of the three accused are residents of Himachal Pradesh. The police stated that all three had escaped after the protest and were hiding in Himachal Pradesh.
Two of the three arrested accused were present at the protest, while the third is alleged to have been involved in the conspiracy.
A day earlier, the Himachal Pradesh Police had registered a kidnapping case against their Delhi counterparts and "detained" their vehicles at the Shogi border near Shimla along with the three Youth Congress activists when they were en route to Delhi.
In a late-night development, the three accused, along with Delhi Police personnel, were taken to the residence of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Ekansh Kapil after undergoing medical examination at the Deendyal Upadhyay Zonal Hospital here and were granted a transit remand.
Later, the Delhi Police personnel were detained in the state capital, and a few police personnel were allowed to return to the national capital with the accused.
The remaining police personnel were asked to stay behind and cooperate with the investigation into the kidnapping case against them.
The Himachal Pradesh Police "seized" a vehicle belonging to the Delhi Police that contained CCTV footage and other evidence. However, the Delhi Police pleaded that the "seized" vehicle carried digital evidence, documents and arms.
The arrested leaders belonged to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
At least 20 Delhi police personnel were detained on Wednesday for arresting the Youth Congress leaders from Rohru town in Shimla district.
A Delhi Police team reached Rohru, arrested the Youth Congress activists, and was heading back to Delhi when it was stopped near Dharampur town in Solan district by the state police, who detained them. The arrest of the policemen was carried out by the Shimla Police.
Congress lawmaker Kuldeep Rathore has demanded that the state government take stern action against the Delhi Police. He termed the police action against the Youth Congress workers as an attempt to suppress their voices.
"Raiding premises without a warrant is a clear violation of privacy," Rathore said in a press statement on Wednesday. He also criticised the Central government, stating that the country is not the property of one party. "In a democracy, governments come and go, but the opposition's duty is to raise the people's voice," he said.
