Delhi-Himachal Stand-off over AI Summit arrests sparks political row
Delhi-Himachal Stand-off over AI Summit arrests sparks political row
Tensions rise as Delhi Police arrest IYC activists at the AI Impact Summit, prompting Himachal's government to accuse Delhi of undermining state sovereignty.
After a dramatic 24 hours, the stand-off between Delhi and Himachal Pradesh police teams ended when the Delhi unit was cleared to head back to the national capital with the three Indian Youth Congress activists arrested from Shimla in connection with the shirts-off protest at the AI Impact Summit last week. The confrontation at the Shimla border drew sharp political reactions in the hill state.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu described Delhi Police’s action as “an attempt to undermine the sovereignty of the State,” asking if arresting someone without informing or obtaining permission from the State was legal. The opposition BJP, led by Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, filed a memorandum to the Governor alleging a constitutional crisis and demanding a Centre-led probe into the incident and the role of the Chief Minister’s Office. Sukhu defended the action as lawful under constitutional rights granted to States.
On the legal front, the Patiala House Courts remanded three arrested youths—Saurav, Arbaaz, and Siddharth—into three days of police custody on Thursday afternoon, with production set for March 1. The court also extended the police remand by three days for two other accused, Ajay Kumar and Raja Gujar, who were arrested earlier and presented in court on Thursday. Earlier, Uday Bhanu Chib, the National President of the IYC, was arrested on Monday, February 23, 2026, fueling the sequence of events that led to the standoff.
The Himachal Pradesh Police had registered a kidnapping case against Delhi Police personnel and alleged detention of their vehicles at the Shogi border near Shimla on February 25, 2026, escalating the tense dispute between the two police forces. As the stand-off concluded with the Delhi team allowed to return to Delhi, the broader political debate over jurisdiction and the handling of protests at high-profile summits remains unsettled.
