Toolbox: Activist Disha Ravi was arrested at her Bengaluru home last week.
New Delhi:
Climate activist Disha Ravi, arrested for a farmer protest toolkit linked to the Republic Day violence in Delhi, was sent to jail for three days after Delhi police presented her in court. The 22-year-old was arrested at her Bengaluru home last week; faces charges of conspiracy and sedition.
The Google document, which was tweeted by Swedish climate crusade Greta Thunberg earlier this month to support the farmers’ protest and later removed, was created by Ravi and two other activists, Nikita Jacob and Shantanu Muluk, police told earlier this week. The investigation into the toolkit comes as the Delhi Police intensify their investigation into last month’s Republic Day violence in the national capital after farmers staged a tractor demonstration against three farm laws.
Emphasizing the possibility of “tampering with evidence”, the police today requested three more days of judicial custody for Ms. Ravi. “We have sent notices to several others to join the investigation. In this case, we have sent a notice to Shantanu and we want to confront Disha and Shantanu,” Delhi police told the Patiala House court where he appeared to Mrs. Ravi; he was in police custody for five days. “During the course of the interrogation, Disha Ravi has blamed Nikita and Shantanu,” police said.
Last week, Ms Ravi’s arrest had sparked outrage as opposition leaders called it “appalling”; the peasant leaders had also condemned him. “I didn’t make the toolkit. We wanted to support the farmers. I edited two lines on February 3,” Disha Ravi told the court on Sunday.
However, amid criticism, the Delhi police had justified the action. “Highly incriminating information was recovered from Disha’s phone, which made it clear that she made the document (toolkit) together with Shantanu and Nikita and sent it to others,” Delhi police officer Prem Nath told officials on Monday. journalists.
“The main objective of the toolkit was to spread misinformation against the legitimately elected government. They also sought public participation in the action on January 26, Indian Republic Day. We took action against Disha because it removed a group from WhatsApp created to coordinate the toolkit, “he said.
Earlier today, the Delhi High Court warned the media against sensationalism. Ms Ravi had petitioned the court, seeking action against three news channels and instructions to the police not to leak investigative material, including the alleged content of her private chats. Investigators have denied leaking private conversations to journalists.
The High Court has told news outlets to “ensure that adequate editorial control is exercised while information is released to ensure that the investigation is not hindered.”
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