Shimla: A day after a Delhi Police team arrested three Indian Youth Congress workers in Shimla, the officers were given clearance by court to leave for Delhi early Thursday with the accused in custody, ending a dramatic standoff with Himachal Pradesh Police that lasted over 15 hours.
Himachal Police had stopped around 20 Delhi Police personnel in Solan district Wednesday after intercepting them for what the state force called an “unauthorised” arrest of the three IYC workers linked to the shirtless protest at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi last week.
A FIR against unidentified Delhi police personnel was also lodged Wednesday by Himachal Pradesh Police under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Sections 140(3) (Kidnapping), 329(4) (Trespassing), 127(2) (wrongful confinement of any person) and 190 (every member of unlawful assembly is guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object).
The three have been identified as Saurabh, Siddharth and Arbaz, and were arrested by Special Cell of Delhi Police from a hotel in Chirgaon area of Rohru subdivision, Shimla district around 5.30 am Wednesday.
Shimla Police said in an official statement Thursday that their actions in the Chirgaon incident were swift, lawful, and fully in accordance with legal procedures.
“Yesterday morning [Wednesday], Shimla Police received information from Chanshul Resort, Chirgaon, that some individuals (in civilian clothes, travelling in vehicles with out-of-state registration numbers) took away three people staying at the resort along with some electronic items, including a Digital Video Recorder (DVR). Taking the matter seriously, Shimla Police immediately initiated necessary legal action to ascertain the facts and ensure all procedures are followed strictly in accordance with the law. Acting swiftly and in coordination with Solan Police, Shimla Police teams intercepted the concerned persons at various locations—Shoghi, ISBT Shimla, and Dharampur.”
The statement added that it was found during investigation that the group consisted of personnel from Delhi and Haryana Police, who had allegedly detained the three individuals while pursuing a case registered in Delhi. “To ensure the protection of rights of involved persons and full compliance with legal procedures, Shimla Police presented them before the competent local authority under protection.”
The three were subjected to medical examination at Ram Dass Hospital in Shimla, after which CJM-II Court granted approximately 18 hours of transit remand, the police further said. “After completing all legal formalities and necessary verification, permission was granted to the Delhi and Haryana Police teams to take the concerned persons to Delhi. Based on the complaint lodged by the owner of Chanshul Resort, Chirgaon, an FIR No. 18/2026 was registered at Chirgaon Police Station on Wednesday under relevant sections, and the investigation is ongoing.”
The standoff
The chain of events traces back to 20 February, when several IYC members had gatecrashed the high-profile summit at Bharat Mandapam, removed their shirts to reveal slogans criticising an impending India-US trade deal and taking sharp aim at the Prime Minister.
Delhi Police had swiftly registered an FIR, slapping charges including breach of security, rioting, and criminal conspiracy. So far 11 IYC workers have been taken into police custody in connection with the “shirtless” protest, the last three picked up from Himachal Pradesh, police sources said Wednesday.
Saurabh, Siddharth and Arbaz, not originally from Himachal, reportedly went into hiding in the private hotel in Rohru. Early Wednesday, a Delhi Police team reached the spot, took the trio into custody without prior intimation to local authorities, and set off towards Delhi via the Chandigarh-Kalka-Shimla highway.
Things turned tense near Dharampur in Solan when Himachal Police, acting on a tip-off, set up a roadblock and stopped the convoy. The state force detained the 15-20 Delhi Police personnel, arguing that inter-state arrests required mandatory prior notice to local police to preserve law and order.
Himachal Police alleged the arrests were unauthorised, claiming that the Delhi officers forcibly took the IYC workers without coordinating with local authorities, and seized CCTV footage from the hotel without a receipt or proper notice. They registered a kidnapping FIR against unidentified officers and intercepted the convoy multiple times—first near Dharampur in Solan district, then at Shoghi border (about 15 km from Shimla), and later at Kanlog—stopping the vehicles and demanding digital evidence.
The friction continued late into the night. After medical examinations at Deendayal Upadhyay Zonal Hospital in Shimla late Wednesday, the accused and the Delhi Police officers were produced before Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) II Ekansh Kapil around 1.30 am, where an 18-hour transit remand (with some time already elapsed) was granted, following arguments from both sides.
Despite the remand, the Delhi Police team was stopped again early Thursday at Kanlog, and later at Shoghi border around 4 am, it is learnt. Sources told ThePrint that Himachal Police personnel stopped one of the Delhi Police vehicles—believed to contain CCTV footage from Rohru, other digital/electronic evidence, accompanying documents, and arms—and sought to search and seize the electronic evidence. They purportedly also demanded that some Delhi personnel stay behind to join and cooperate with the probe into the kidnapping FIR filed against them, the sources added.
Delhi officers refused to hand over the keys of the vehicles or leave team members, insisting that they had already provided a seizure memo to the court, shared relevant documents during the remand hearing, and that their primary responsibility was ensuring the safe transit of the accused without abandoning any personnel.
Delhi Assistant Commissioner of Police Rahul Vikram told media persons Thursday morning, “They can’t seize the vehicle. When we have seized the DVR, and supplied the documents for it, how can they search our vehicle on suspicion that the DVR has been stolen? Now, we all are leaving for Delhi with three accused.”
Advocate Sandeep Dutta, the accused’s counsel, told media persons that the arrest was illegal because proper procedures were not followed. He opposed the transit remand on grounds of “illegal detention”, absence of proper documentation, and lack of medical examination at the time of arrest.
Meanwhile, Nand Lal Thakur, the Delhi Police’s lawyer, said that the transit remand application was presented and approved, noting that it was moved before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), forwarded to the local Additional Judicial Magistrate, and granted after hearing arguments. He added that the accused would be presented before the concerned magistrate in Delhi, where the original FIR was registered, with the investigation ongoing.
Congress leaders have accused Delhi Police of politically motivated targeting party workers, while BJP figures and a parliamentary committee have slammed the original protest as “indecent”, “anti-national”, and a national embarrassment on an international stage.
After the shirtless protest, the Delhi Police had also carried out what Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu described as a “midnight raid” without a warrant or prior intimation to the resident commissioner. Sukhu condemned it as “unfortunate and unconstitutional”, and he he had only found out after a Congress MLA told him the police team had come looking for protest-related suspects.
The Himachal government’s general administration department sought a detailed report from the Himachal Bhawan management, while the action sparked accusations of political vendetta against Congress workers.
This is an updated version of the report.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)