New Delhi [India], February 27 : Delhi Police have arrested two more Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers, identified as Girdhar and Kubar Meena, in connection with the "shirtless protest" at the AI Summit on Friday.
The Delhi Police are investigating the funding angle behind the protest.
The investigation suspects that money collected for the Bihar assembly elections may have been used in the protest. Police began investigating several bank accounts linked to the accused.
Accused Krishna Hari (Bihar IYC Secretary) received amounts ranging from ₹35,000 to ₹1 lakh at various times. Police are investigating whether this money was leftover election funds. Some accounts linked to the IYC were also investigated.
Around ₹35,000 was estimated to have been spent on the logistics of the protest, including printing T-shirts and placards. Umbrellas were also printed, but were not used.
The Crime Branch is now investigating the source of the money and the entire conspiracy.
The members of the Indian Youth Congress staged a protest at the Bharat Mandapam venue of the AI Impact India Summit in the national capital during the AI by removing their shirts with slogans that read, "Compromised PM".
The party workers removed their shirts as a mark of dissent against the India-US trade deal, after which seven Youth Congress leaders were arrested in connection with the case.
Earlier, the case had been transferred to the Delhi Police Crime Branch. The Inter-State Crime Branch is conducting further investigations into the matter, including the circumstances surrounding the protest and the arrests made in connection with it.
The move comes after Indian Youth Congress President Uday Bhanu Chib was arrested earlier today under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in connection with the protest at Bharat Mandapam.
Meanwhile, a Delhi Court reserved its order on the police plea seeking seven days' custody of the Youth Congress President in connection with the AI Summit protest case.
Police described the case as one of unlawful assembly and criminal conspiracy, stating that Chib directed the other accused, while several accused are currently in Jammu, Amethi and Himachal Pradesh.
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