CHANDIGARH: High drama unfolded on Thursday after a Delhi Police team reached Shimla to arrest three Youth Congress leaders. The Himachal Pradesh Police first detained the team from the national capital, and later in the evening, an FIR was registered against “unidentified persons” on charges of alleged abduction for not informing the local police.
Sources said a team of about 20 Delhi Police personnel arrived in Shimla to arrest three Youth Congress leaders from Rohru in connection with a protest staged during the AI summit in New Delhi. As the Delhi Police team was returning to the national capital with the three leaders, it was stopped near Dharampur in Solan district by the Himachal Pradesh Police, which allegedly detained them.
The police personnel and the Youth Congress leaders were then taken back to Shimla and produced before a local court in the afternoon. The Delhi Police team submitted documents related to the case registered against the three leaders in the national capital and reportedly stated that they had the arrest memo and all required documents to take the three Youth Congress leaders to Delhi, where they would be produced before a court, sources said. They added that the Himachal Pradesh Police maintained that it had not been informed in advance.
The standoff did not end there. Delhi Police accused the Himachal Pradesh Police of interfering in their official duty. The court later allowed the Delhi Police to take the three leaders back to Delhi to be produced before a Delhi court.
However, as the Delhi Police team headed back from Shimla, it was again stopped late in the evening by the Himachal Pradesh Police at Shoghi. The team was informed that an FIR had been registered against them on charges of abduction of three persons and that they would have to join the investigation.
In an official press statement, the Himachal Pradesh Police said that on Thursday morning, Shimla Police received information that around 15–20 unidentified individuals in plain clothes arrived in vehicles and forcibly took away three persons staying at a resort in Mandli in Chirgaon of Rohru tehsil in Shimla.
“These persons also took with them one vehicle belonging to the guests, which was a Thar. In addition, the DVR of the CCTV cameras installed at Chanshal Resort was taken away without providing any seizure memo or receipt. Thus, based on this information, the Shimla Police registered an FIR at Chirgaon Police Station and is taking action as per law,” the statement read.
Sources said the three Youth Congress workers taken into custody by the Delhi Police are not residents of Himachal Pradesh. “The Delhi Police arrested three people from Rohru in Shimla without following proper procedure,” said a senior police officer on condition of anonymity.
AICC spokesperson and Theog MLA Kuldeep Rathore termed the action by the Delhi Police against the Youth Congress leaders as an attempt to suppress their voices. He added that raiding premises without a warrant is a clear violation of privacy and urged the state government to take legal action against the Delhi Police.
“In a democracy, governments come and go, but the opposition’s duty is to raise the people’s voice,” he said, adding that the Youth Congress workers were peacefully protesting against the US-India trade deal and its impact on farmers and youth on February 20.
A meeting of personnel of both the Himachal Pradesh Police and Delhi Police is underway at Shoghi.
