The investigating officers needed time to probe the sloganeering in solidarity with slain Maoist commander Madvi Hidma, they said.
A Delhi court on Monday remanded three protesters to three days of police custody in a case relating to the alleged use of pepper spray on police personnel during a demonstration at the India Gate over pollution last month.
The trio was identified as Ravjot, Gurkirat and Kranti.
The court also remanded seven other accused protesters to seven-day judicial custody.
While Delhi Police requested 10 days of police custody for Ayisha Wafiya and three other women, the court granted them only three days of judicial custody.
Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Aridaman Singh Cheema passed the order, directing that the women be interrogated only by female investigating officers.
The decision followed arguments from the defence counsel, who claimed the women had been subjected to rape threats and sexual harassment by male police officers.
While arguing for police custody, Delhi Police said that some of the arrested students had attended a conference of the banned Radical Students’ Union (RSU) in Hyderabad in February and that several videos allegedly showed their links to the Naxalite movement.
The investigating officers needed time to probe the sloganeering in solidarity with slain Maoist commander Madvi Hidma, they said.
The investigating officers also argued that further custody was necessary due to new evidence, including videos showing the students raising controversial slogans and WhatsApp chats revealing coordination among the group, and to trace the source of their funding, as the accused were found travelling to a conference and using expensive phones.
Opposing the plea for further custody, the defence contended that the accused had cooperated fully, had already been interrogated and had spent two days in police custody in a related case.
Their devices had been seized, and there was no further possibility of tampering with the evidence by the accused.
Since the primary virtual evidence was already in police custody, there was no further need for custodial interrogation, the defence counsel argued.
Many of the members played no active role in coordinating and organising the protest beyond being members of a WhatsApp group and being present at the venue on the day of the protest, showing there was no meeting of minds between the accused protesters, the defence counsel said.
Delhi Police was also accused of acting in a “lackadaisical” manner, as there have been no leads on who sourced the pepper spray at the venue of the protest, despite more than a week of custodial interrogation, it argued.
Eight of the accused — Vishnu Tiwari, Akshay, Sameer Fayis, Banka Akash, Prakash Kumar Gupta, Aahan Arun Upadhyay, Vagisha Anudeep and Ayisha Wafiya — were produced before the court after the expiry of their two-day judicial custody on Monday.
On Saturday, the court rejected Delhi Police’s application for seven-day police custody and only remanded them to two-day judicial custody.
Barring Ayisha, who has been remanded to three days of judicial custody, the rest of the accused, who have been remanded to seven days of judicial custody, will be produced before the court on Tuesday.
