The high-voltage standoff between the police teams of Delhi and Shimla finally came to an end after a dramatic 24 hours on Thursday morning, as the Delhi Police team was finally allowed to return to the national capital along with the three Youth Congress activists who were arrested in connection with the "shirtless protest" at the AI Summit. In the 24-hour long stalemate, the Delhi Police were "detained" for nearly five hours even after procuring the transit remand from the magistrate.
Shimla was the scene of an extraordinary late-night standoff between the Delhi and Himachal Pradesh police, as a routine interstate arrest spiralled into a 24-hour jurisdictional battle. The friction began when a Delhi Police team arrived in the hill station to detain three Youth Congress activists — Saurabh, Siddharth, and Arbaz — in connection with a "shirtless protest" at last week's AI Impact Summit.
What followed was a series of dramatic confrontations, with local officers blocking the Delhi convoy and even registering a kidnapping case against the visiting team, alleging they had flouted legal procedures.
The row intensified on Wednesday morning when Himachal police intercepted the Delhi team, accusing them of taking the activists from a local resort without proper warrants or documentation. The situation turned even more bizarre when Shimla police filed a kidnapping FIR against "unknown persons in plain clothes," despite the individuals being Delhi police officers.
Although a local magistrate eventually granted the Delhi team transit remand late Wednesday night, the drama didn't end there; the convoy was intercepted again at daybreak near the Shoghi border, where local authorities barricaded the vehicles and attempted to seize digital evidence, including CCTV footage.
The impasse only broke after the Delhi officers provided a formal seizure memo to their Shimla counterparts, though they refused to hand over the actual digital evidence. While the Delhi team has now finally departed for the capital with the accused in custody, the legal fallout continues. Shimla police have moved a private complaint in court over the alleged procedural lapses, while Himachal Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu has previously criticised the Delhi Police’s heavy-handedness, including recent raids on Himachal Sadan in New Delhi.
Also read: HP police detains 20 Delhi cops over IYC leaders' arrests
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