New Delhi: Members of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) had carried out a recce of the Bharat Mandapam and their shirtless protest on the AI Summit was a “premeditated intrusion”, the Delhi Police knowledgeable a court docket explaining the grounds for arrest, ThePrint has learnt.

The Delhi Police have up to now arrested seven folks for the protest, together with IYC members Jitendra Yadav, Raj Gujar, and Ajay Kumar, who had been taken into custody Monday from Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior.

The three arrested Monday have been despatched to police custody for 3 days. The investigators additionally detained Monty Shukla, IYC normal secretary. Questioning is underway. IYC nationwide coordinator Uday Bhanu Chib was additionally questioned in reference to the matter Monday.

The FIR was registered at Tilak Marg Police Station underneath BNS sections 61(2) (legal conspiracy), 121(1) (voluntarily inflicting harm), 132 (assault or legal power to discourage public servant(, 195(1) (assaulting or obstructing public servant when suppressing riot), 221 (obstructs any public servant within the discharge of his public features), 223(A) (disobedience to an order lawfully promulgated by a public servant), 190 (each member of an illegal meeting in prosecution of the widespread object), 196 (selling enmity, hatred, or disharmony between totally different teams primarily based on faith, race, language, or caste), 197 (imputations, assertions prejudicial to nationwide integration) and three(5) (widespread intention).

The Delhi Police additionally knowledgeable the court docket that the police are trying into others who’re absconding, particularly their digital footprints and monetary trails.

The investigators additional knowledgeable the court docket that the accused individuals, in a pre-planned conspiracy, gathered sporting T-shirts with the slogan ‘India-US Commerce Deal Compromised’, raised provocative and anti-national slogans, created public dysfunction, obstructed and assaulted police officers, leading to accidents to 2 ASI stage officers.

The police had sought custody of the arrested accused “to unearth the bigger conspiracy together with funding and organisational help, to recuperate and analyse digital proof from cellphones, social media chats and emails used”.

In response to Delhi Police, officers discovered T-shirts and posters used within the Indian Youth Congress protest on the AI Summit at Bharat Mandapam from the automotive of Indian Youth Congress chief Krishna Hari.

“The accused individuals are alleged to have orchestrated a ‘premeditated intrusion’ into the high-security precincts of Bharat Mandapam in the course of the Al Summit 2026, a premier worldwide conclave internet hosting world delegates and dignitaries, whereby they donned provocative T-shirts bearing offensive slogans reminiscent of ‘India-US Commerce Deal Compromised’, and vociferously raised incendiary chants,” the Delhi Police submission stated, in accordance with Delhi Police sources.

“Such conduct palpably transcends the ambit of respectable dissent, metamorphosing right into a blatant assault on public order. It imperils not merely the occasion’s sanctity but in addition the Republic’s diplomatic picture earlier than international stakeholders, rendering it wholly unprotected by constitutional safeguards,” the choose noticed in its order Saturday, in accordance with sources.

“The competition that the accused’s actions represent protected dissent underneath Articles 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(b) of the Structure deserves rejection. Whereas the appropriate to freedom of speech and expression, together with peaceable meeting and protest, varieties the cornerstone of democratic discourse, it stays circumscribed by affordable restrictions imposed by regulation within the pursuits of sovereignty and integrity of India, safety of the State, pleasant relations with international States, public order, or decency, as enshrined underneath Article 19(2) and (3),” the choose noticed within the order, rejecting bail utility of IYC functionaries Saturday.

Whereas sources within the Delhi Police clarified that Chib has not been detained or arrested, members of the IYC continued to protest.

In a press release, the IYC stated it strongly condemned the arbitrary arrest of its nationwide president, and “the persevering with sample of coercive and extreme police motion that has unfolded over the previous a number of days”.

Uday Bhanu Chib had already joined the investigation and was absolutely cooperating with authorities. “There was no evasion, no refusal to seem, and no authorized justification warranting custodial arrest. But, he has been taken into custody,” the assertion stated.

“Shockingly, notices underneath Part 41A CrPC—which are supposed to forestall pointless arrests—are being served after arrest. This reverses the very function of the safeguard and renders statutory protections meaningless. Concurrently, households of Youth Congress workplace bearers have been subjected to midnight pick-ups and extended detention inside police stations with out clear grounds or transparency. Such conduct seems designed to not support investigation, however to intimidate and psychologically strain,” the assertion stated.

The IYC says, greater than 300 personnel from Delhi Police and CRPF have been stationed round their premises.

“Such disproportionate deployment creates an environment of siege and intimidation somewhat than lawful policing. The dimensions of power used is extreme and unjustified, notably contemplating the peaceable and political nature of the protest,” the assertion stated.

Sheh Narayan Ojha (IYC normal secretary), stated that Uday Bhanu Chib has absolutely cooperated with the investigation and has nothing to cover.

“If standing with the youth of this nation and elevating their points is being handled as against the law, then we’re ready to face it. However intimidation won’t silence democratic voices. The Structure ensures our proper to dissent, and we’ll proceed to train it peacefully and lawfully,” the IYC assertion stated.

(Edited by Viny Mishra)

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