Shimla witnessed an extraordinary police-versus-police confrontation late Wednesday night, as teams from the Delhi Police and Himachal Pradesh Police faced off in a tense standoff over the arrest of three Youth Congress activists linked to last week’s “shirtless protest” at the AI Summit. What began as an interstate police operation spiralled into a dramatic 24-hour showdown -- marked by multiple detentions, stopping police vehicles and even a kidnapping case registered against the visiting officers -- before the Delhi team was finally allowed to leave for the national capital with the accused in custody.
The confrontation began after Himachal Pradesh Police opposed what they called "unauthorised arrests", alleging procedural violations. They stopped the Delhi Police convoy multiple times during its transit, leading to repeated heated confrontations between officers. Himachal Pradesh is ruled by the Congress party.
The Delhi Police had obtained a transit remand of the accused Youth Congress activists -- Saurabh, Siddharth and Arbaz -- from the Magistrate.
Arrests: The sequence began on Wednesday morning when the Delhi Police arrested three Youth Congress activists from a hotel in Shimla in connection with the February 20 “shirtless protest” at the AI Impact Summit. The local Himachal Pradesh Police intercepted them and brought them back to Shimla.
The Himachal Pradesh Police alleged procedural lapses and sought details of the warrant and evidence from their Delhi counterparts.
Kidnapping case: The Shimla Police registered a kidnapping case against unknown persons in plain clothes, alleging that the three men had been forcibly taken from a resort without proper documentation or receipts for seized CCTV equipment. Both police forces accused each other of procedural violations.
Gets transit remand: Late Wednesday night, after medical examinations, the accused and Delhi Police personnel were taken to the residence of an Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate. The court granted transit remand, allowing the Delhi Police to take the accused to the national capital, after which the team resumed its journey.
Delhi Police stopped: Early Thursday morning, the Delhi Police team was again detained at Kanlog in Shimla. Shimla Police asked some Delhi personnel to continue to Delhi with the accused along with additional Himachal Police officers, while the remaining Delhi personnel were told to stay back and cooperate with the kidnapping investigation.
Delhi Police refused, insisting they would not leave any team members behind, and continued towards Shoghi.
Delhi Police stopped again: Around 4 am at Shoghi border, the Delhi Police convoy was stopped once more. Shimla Police barricaded a Delhi Police vehicle containing CCTV footage and other digital evidence.
Vehicle seized: Shimla Police also seized one of the Delhi Police vehicles, alleging that it contained a DVR taken during the arrest operation. However, Delhi Police officials said the seizure was carried out in the presence of an independent witness and seizure memo and documents had already been shown to the magistrate while obtaining transit remand.
Standoff ended: The impasse was finally resolved after they shared a copy of the seizure memo with Shimla Police, listing the evidence in their possession, though the digital evidence itself was not handed over.
Shimla Police then dispersed, and the Delhi team was allowed to proceed to the national capital. Delhi Police said they had 18 hours of transit remand, of which several hours had already passed.
Shimla Police maintained that a case of kidnapping had been registered and alleged procedural violations in the manner in which the arrests were carried out. Lawyers for the accused, meanwhile, argued that the arrests were illegal due to lapses in procedure, while the Delhi Police asserted that the transit remand had been lawfully obtained.
“I asked you for legal documents in the morning, but you have neither shown any papers nor provided the FIR number, nor have you obtained transit remand,” a police officer was heard saying in a video of the exchange.
Meanwhile, Shimla Police have filed a private complaint before the court of Magistrate, detailing the sequence of events related to the arrests in Rohru. The matter is scheduled to be heard on Thursday in Shimla.
Officials said two of the three detained Youth Congress members are named accused in the Delhi FIR, while the third has been described as a conspirator.
The protest had led to multiple arrests, including Indian Youth Congress leaders Uday Bhanu Chib and Bhudev Sharma. Earlier, Delhi Police had also raided Himachal Sadan in the national capital over allegations that protesters were accommodated there, a move criticised by Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu.
