The Delhi Police on Tuesday arrested Indian Youth Congress (IYC) president Uday Bhanu Chib in connection with a case filed against the outfit members for protesting at the venue of the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, reported PTI.
Security has been tightened around the Tilak Marg police station, where Chib is presently held, and across key locations in the capital in anticipation of possible protests following the arrest. Barricades have been put up at the strategic points, with anti-riot teams on standby.
"Our priority is to maintain public order and ensure that daily life is not disrupted. Preventive measures may be invoked if any group attempts to assemble without permission," a senior officer was quoted as saying by PTI.
Reacting to the arrest, Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said Prime minister Narendra Modi is "scared" of dissent and questions being asked of him.
"It is the duty of the opposition to protest in a democracy but a dictator will never understand this... If you hear the speech of that dictator in Meerut recently you will get to know that the word democracy does not exist in his dictionary," Khera said, in a swipe at PM Modi.
Alleging that Modi has emerged as the "most cowardly Prime Minister in the world," Khera charged, "He is being blackmailed, he is a coward, he is scared."
"It has been the Congress' history that no matter how much oppression we face, we will continue to raise issues of the people and will keep fighting with Ahimsa," he added.
Police had earlier arrested seven workers of the outfit, including three from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, for the protest staged at the Bharat Mandapam last Friday.
They have been identified as Jitendra Yadav, Raj Gujjar and Ajay Kumar.
In addition, IYC's Uttar Pradesh general secretary Ritik alias Monty Shukla has been detained from Lalitpur in the state.
An FIR has been registered at Tilak Marg police station invoking serious provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including criminal conspiracy, hurt to a public servant, assault on and obstruction of a public servant in discharge of duty, disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant, unlawful assembly, and common intention.
Later, additional sections under the BNS, including 196 (promoting enmity between different groups and acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 197 (assertions prejudicial to national integration) were invoked in the FIR, which carry a jail term of up to three years.
The police action came after a group of protesters marched into Exhibition Hall No. 5 of the AI summit on Friday, wearing or holding white T-shirts printed with images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump, along with slogans such as "India-US Trade Deal," "Epstein Files," and "PM is compromised," which soon resulted in a commotion.
The police said they are probing an alleged "wider conspiracy angle" in connection with the protests.
Justifying the protest, the IYC in a post on X said the question being asked was "why exactly did young Congress workers need to raise their voices against the compromised PM inside the AI Summit?"
"In a country where the media, the system, and the prime minister himself have already been compromised, what platform remains to raise a voice against it? If we protest on the streets, we are stopped. Under the guise of IT Rules, social media posts against the government are taken down. The media has become the government's mouthpiece. So, what avenue remains open to us?" the Youth Congress asked.
However, the BJP slammed the protests, alleging that a "ruckus" was created at the venue to sabotage India's global image under the direction of opposition leader Rahul Gandhi.
(With inputs from PTI)