New Delhi: A court here on Wednesday extended the judicial custody of five Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers who were arrested for holding a ‘shirtless’ protest at the AI Impact Summit at Bharat Mandapam on February 20.
Judicial Magistrate Ravi extended the custodial interrogation of the accused persons.
The five arrested IYC workers include Krishna Hari, national secretary from Bihar; Kundan Yadav, state secretary of Bihar; Ajay Kumar, state president of Uttar Pradesh; and Narasimha Yadav from Telangana, who were arrested after the protest inside an exhibition hall at the summit.
Yesterday, the counsel for the IYC president submitted that his client was not present at the spot and had already been interrogated, calling the remand plea “frivolous and irrelevant” as he asked the prosecution to show any prima facie conspiracy.
Public Prosecutor Atul Kumar Srivastava countered that the accused, though not physically present, was “communicating and monitoring each and everything” and was the “mastermind.” He said the knowledge that the act could lead to a riot-like situation was sufficient and that as IYC president, he bore “additional responsibility.”
