A city court in Noida on Monday granted a two-day conditional police remand for Aditya Anand, Satyam Verma, and Himanshu Thakur, who are accused of instigating violence during the industrial workers' protest on April 13. The court dismissed the lawyers' objections against the validity of the arrest as baseless.
Remand Conditions and Duration
Judge Virek Aggrawal ruled that the police custody period will commence from 9 am on April 29 and continue until 6 pm on April 30. The court directed that the investigating officer (IO) must ensure the accused undergo a medical examination at the time of taking them into police custody from the jail and again when they are admitted back to the prison after the custody period. These conditions mirror those imposed last week for three other accused—Aakriti Chaudhary, Manisha Chauhan, and Srishti Gupta—in the same case.
Investigation Oversight
The court further ordered that the IO shall not subject the accused to mental or physical harassment. It also allowed the counsels for the accused to observe the investigation proceedings while maintaining a reasonable distance and without obstructing the process. On an application by Harun Rana, counsel for the accused, the court permitted advocates Umesh Kumar, Tanveer Mohammad Ali, and Manik Gupta to accompany Verma, Thakur, and Anand respectively during the police custody remand proceedings.
Police Allegations
Police have alleged that Anand is the main conspirator in the case. However, Anand's brother has contested this claim, citing video evidence that shows Anand appealing for peace during the protests. Police filed an application seeking police custody remand (PCR) last week, leading to the court summoning the accused on April 21. After hearing prosecution officers and defense counsels at length, the court on April 23 allowed time for the police to submit the case diary.
According to the remand application, the accused's involvement came to light after the recovery of Verma's laptop and the mobile phones of Thakur and Anand. Police stated that records related to their organizations, material used to instigate the incident, equipment provided to workers, and violent material prepared and distributed among workers can be assessed. They emphasized the importance of examining memory chips, videos, and how the criminal conspiracy was hatched.
Defense Objections Overruled
Defense counsels Harun Rana, Sameer Saifi, and Manisha objected to the police remand, claiming their clients were tortured on April 18 and 19 and forced to sign blank papers. Supreme Court advocate Kabir also challenged the legality of the arrest, arguing that procedures were not followed—the accused were neither informed of the charges nor given an arrest memo. However, the court reviewed the case diary and concluded that the grounds for arrest were stated in the arrest memo and communicated via a separate notice signed by the accused. The court noted that the magistrate had granted remand on April 19, and a petition to cancel it had been rejected. Therefore, the objections regarding lack of information and torture were dismissed as baseless.
Case Diary Details
In the case diary, police alleged that Thakur, upon learning about the protest in Noida, collected money through donations and instigated workers to commit violence to get their demands met. The investigation is ongoing.
