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The Delhi Police has opposed bail for a group of college students arrested in connection with a protest in the national capital where several police personnel were allegedly sprayed with pepper spray, citing social media posts to claim possible “Naxal links”.
Although the demonstration at India Gate on November 23 was said to have been organised over concerns about worsening air quality, the police informed the court that they were examining possible links to Naxalite activity, alleging that slogans supporting Naxalites had been raised during the protest.
A total of 23 protesters, most of them reported to be Delhi University students associated with the Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch (BSCEM) and the environmental collective Himkhand, were taken into custody.
On Monday, the police told a Delhi court that an Instagram post from BSCEM’s account had, in their view, praised Maoist leader Madvi Hidma, who was killed in an encounter in Andhra Pradesh last month, Indian Express reported.
In their response to the bail pleas of six of the accused, submitted before Judicial Magistrate First Class Aridaman Singh Cheema at the Patiala House Courts, the police said investigators had come across a post on BSCEM’s Instagram page that described the death of Madvi Hidma and others as a “fake encounter” carried out by what it called a “fascist Indian state”.
The police told the court that an eight-page write-up found on the group’s Instagram account allegedly praised Hidma and contained slogans endorsing revolutionary ideology. Investigators quoted the post as saying: “Red salute to Madvi Hidma, blood debt of the martyrs will be repaid. Long live the revolutionary martyrs. Long live Marxism, Leninism, Maoism.”
The police further claimed that in another post, three of the accused were seen performing songs that, according to them, celebrated the Radical Students Union (RSU).
Earlier, Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Devesh Mahla informed the court that the RSU is a banned organisation and described it as a front for Maoist groups, adding that the accused had openly supported it on social media.
Meanwhile, authorities have registered two separate FIRs against the protesters on allegations including assault, obstructing public servants in the discharge of duty, and outraging the modesty of women. Although eight of the accused were granted bail in one case earlier, they were later arrested in connection with the second FIR. At present, 21 of the 23 protesters — all in either judicial or police custody — have been named as accused in both cases.