India Gate air protest: Cops cite Naxal links to oppose bail

The development comes a day after the Delhi Police re-arrested eight students in another FIR, lodged at Kartavya Path police station, hours after they were granted bail in a case linked to the same incident which was lodged at the Parliament Street police station.

Police said they have found new evidence on record, allegedly linking them to a radical Naxalite organisation.

Sunday’s sit-in began when students from Delhi University and other institutions gathered at the India Gate under the banner of the Delhi Coordination Committee for Clean Air. (Sanchit Khanna/Hindustan Times)

In submissions before judicial magistrate First Class Aridaman Singh Cheema of Patiala House Court, DCP (New Delhi) Devesh Mahla told the court, “There is video evidence which shows that some of the accused persons attended a conference of the Radical Students Union (RSU), which was held in Hyderabad on February 21 and 22.”

The DCP added that multiple other videos are also being recovered from the social media, which pointed at the alleged links of the students and their support towards the Naxalite movement. “We will need their police custody to confront them with the new evidence and if let out on bail, they might influence witnesses,” the officer told the court.

Further, the prosecutor told the court that investigation was at a nascent stage and if the accused are let out on bail, police will not be able to seek custody at a later stage as and when new evidence emerges.

“We still need to establish who asked them to make posters and on whose directions did they raise slogans in support of Naxalist leader Madvi Hidma,” the prosecutor said.

Meanwhile, the counsels for the accused persons argued that keeping the students in jail for a long duration based on the investigating agency’s requirement will jeopardise their educational and career prospects.

Advocate Abhinav Sekhri, appearing on behalf of one of the accused, Vishnu, told the court, “The police’s case of alleged conspiracy behind protest falls flat on the face as carrying a pepper spray does not necessarily mean that an assault is being planned on police personnel…no one conspired to carry out any wrongdoing.”

The court adjourned the hearing to Monday and has asked police to file supplementary reports on roles of each of the accused persons.

The development comes a day after the Delhi Police re-arrested eight students in another FIR, lodged at Kartavya Path police station, hours after they were granted bail in a case linked to the same incident which was lodged at the Parliament Street police station.

The court had subsequently sent the accused to seven days’ judicial custody despite police seeking custody for two of them.

Sunday’s sit-in began when students from Delhi University and other institutions gathered at the India Gate under the banner of the Delhi Coordination Committee for Clean Air. Police alleged there was no permission for the protest and that participants turned confrontational when they moved to disperse the crowd. Five students were initially arrested, followed by 17 more outside the Parliament Street police station.