A tense standoff between the Delhi Police and the Himachal Pradesh Police over the arrest of Youth Congress activists linked to the AI Summit protest ended on Thursday, with the Delhi team leaving Shimla with the accused after securing transit remand.
The confrontation followed a protest staged by workers of the Indian Youth Congress during the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on February 20. The activists had allegedly breached security at Bharat Mandapam and raised slogans against the Centre, prompting Delhi Police to register cases including criminal conspiracy and unlawful assembly.
Acting on the case, a Delhi Police team travelled to Himachal Pradesh and picked up three suspects from the Shimla district. However, the move triggered objections from the Himachal Pradesh Police, which maintained that due local procedures — including proper transit remand — had not been followed.
The situation escalated into a 24-hour jurisdictional face-off, with Shimla Police repeatedly stopping the Delhi convoy and seeking documents related to the arrests and seizure of digital evidence. At one stage, Himachal authorities even registered a kidnapping case against unidentified Delhi Police personnel.
Late Wednesday night, the three accused underwent medical examinations, after which a Shimla court granted transit remand to Delhi Police, allowing the team limited time to take the suspects to the national capital.
Despite the court order, the convoy was again halted near Shoghi over a dispute concerning CCTV footage and other electronic material allegedly seized by the Delhi team. Officials from Delhi Police refused to hand over the evidence, stating that all seizure formalities had been duly recorded and presented before the court.
The impasse was resolved early Thursday after copies of the seizure memo were shared with the Himachal Pradesh Police. Following this, the Delhi Police team was allowed to proceed with the three Youth Congress activists.
The episode has sparked political reactions and drawn attention to coordination challenges between police forces of different States in high-profile cases.
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