Wednesday marked an unprecedented police-on-police action in Himachal Pradesh, where state forces held over 20 Delhi Police members attempting to whisk away three Youth Congress leaders from Rohru in Shimla. The backdrop: raucous Youth Congress protests, notably shirtless, at Delhi’s prestigious AI Summit.
Post-arrest, as the Delhi unit departed for the capital, Himachal officers ambushed them near Dharampur, Solan, via pre-set checkpoints informed by Shimla alerts. Superintendent SD Verma detailed the measured response to uphold local jurisdiction. Everyone was court-bound in Shimla soon after.
The arrests have Congress MLA Kuldeep Singh Rathore up in arms, demanding the state slap charges on Delhi Police for warrantless home invasions that trample privacy. He sees it as a ploy to quash youthful dissent spotlighted during the AI event.
Blasting the central dispensation, Rathore asserted national democracy rejects one-party dominance. ‘Governments come and go; opposition endures to echo the people,’ he declared in a release. He accused authorities of inflating the summit protest to justify youth suppression.
Experts decry the episode as a symptom of fraying federal ties in law enforcement. With court dates ahead, it spotlights urgent needs for clearer protocols on interstate pursuits, amid whispers of political meddling in protest policing.