Cops see toolkit link in unrest
Connect document on farm protests to R-day chaos; warrants issued against Mumbai lawyer, Pune engineer
NEW DELHI: Police on Monday linked a social media toolkit on farm protests to clashes that rocked the Capital on Republic Day, saying the document aimed to spread misinformation and incite unrest, even as the arrest of a 22-year-old climate activist triggered outrage and allegations of muzzling dissent.
The activist, Disha Ravi, was arrested from her house in Bengaluru on Saturday on charges of sedition, intending to riot and criminal conspiracy, produced before a Delhi magistrate the next evening and sent to five days in custody.
She is accused of helping edit the online document, containing plans for protest and social media campaign strategy, that Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg first publicised on February 3 in support of farmers agitating against three central laws.
Joint commissioner of police (cyber cell) Prem Nath said nonbailable warrants were issued against Mumbai-based lawyer Nikita Jacob and Pune-based activist Shantanu Muluk, who allegedly participated in an online video call with Disha and Khalistani activists on January 11. Muluk was the creator of the document and Jacob an editor, police added.
“The main aim of the toolkit was to create misinformation and disaffection against the lawfully enacted government. The toolkit sought to artificially amplify the fake news and other falsehoods and also sought to precipitate action on 26th January,” Nath said, referring to violence on Republic Day that saw farmers run riot on the streets and storm the Red Fort.
Ravi, a leader of the Indian arm of Thunberg’s climate crisis-related Fridays for Future movement, allegedly shared the document with the Swedish activist and “coaxed her to act”, said Nath.
Thunberg said she had no comment on the arrest. “We will investigate her [Ravi] role and charges will be framed against her at the time of filing the charge sheet,” a senior police
officer said, requesting anonymity.
Ravi has refuted the allegations that she was conspiring against the government and told a Delhi court on Sunday that she edited “just two lines” to show her support for the protesting farmers who are the “future of the country”. Jacob and Muluk also moved the Bombay high court for bail on Monday even as some legal experts argued that Delhi Police violated procedure by not informing Bengaluru Police in time, producing Ravi in a local court or providing her with a lawyer.
“The information contained in the toolkit does not in any manner incite riots or violence and is simply an information pack with information from various sources... No weapons, no violence, no mention of anything remotely violent in the toolkit or any of our communication,” 30-year-old Jacob said in a statement to Delhi Police.
Activists and lawyers also said Ravi was a scapegoat, and toolkits were harmless documents that are routinely used by most social media campaigns to formulate strategy. “This is their way of trying to scare away youngsters from raising their voice about anything. This sends a message to all young people out there that, you know, shut up and stay at home or this is what is going to happen to you,” said Leo Saldanha, a member of the Environment Support Group in Bengaluru.
Nath refuted the charges, saying Ravi’s arrest was made in the presence of her mother and the local station house officer, and the due procedure was adopted for arresting her. “Her medical test was also conducted before producing her in the court,” he said.
He said police obtained a search warrant against Jacob on February 9 and conducted searches at her house after due intimation to Mumbai Police on February 11.
“During the searches, two laptops and an iphone were found from which incriminating information was retrieved. Jacob’s examination revealed that she and her associates Shantanu and Disha had created the toolkit Google document,” Nath said, adding that the search occurred during daytime.
The joint commissioner said based on the information gathered from Jacob and her devices, teams were sent to Beed, where Muluk lives, and Bengaluru.
“In Beed, Muluk was not found at his home and we are still searching for him. On the next morning, when the investigation team reached Jacob’s residence, it was learnt that she is absconding and has still not joined the investigation. As such for Jacob and Muluk we have taken non-bailable warrants from the concerned courts,” he said.
In Bengaluru, police allegedly extracted “highly incriminating information” from Ravi’s phone that police claimed established Ravi, Muluk and Jacob created and sent the toolkit to others. “Based on the incriminating evidence collected from Ravi’s device and in view of the fact that she has deleted her Whatsapp group, she was arrested in the case,” he said.
The toolkit first hit the headlines two weeks ago when Thunberg shared it on social media along with a post in support of the agitating farmers. Shortly afterwards, Delhi Police registered a first information report (FIR) to probe the toolkit on charges of criminal conspiracy and sedition, but did not name any individual. At the time, police pointed to a “copycat execution of the action plan detailed in the toolkit” and alleged the document was created by prokhalistani group Poetic Justice
Foundation (PJF).
On Monday, Nath elaborated on this theory.
He said police first came across the toolkit on February 4. One part of the document mentioned strategy such as tweet storm, digital strike, and “entering Delhi for Kisan Rally”, while a second part listed tasks aimed at disrupting India’s cultural heritage targeting embassies in various foreign capitals.
“The time-bound action points and programme given in this toolkit, when viewed in the context of the actual developments in Delhi, clearly showed that the action plan that was formulated in the toolkit document has been executed in exactly the same manner,” he said.
The officer said on January 11, Jacob and Muluk attended a Zoom meeting organised by PJF after which the activists collaborated on drafting of the toolkit. There were as many as 70 members on that call, he added. He said a section of the toolkit also mentioned an individual identified as Peter Friedrich, who allegedly was seen in the company of Khalistani separatist Bhajan Singh Bhinder in 2006 and was also linked to drug smuggling.
After Greta Thunberg shared the “toolkit” on Twitter, climate activist Disha Ravi asked the Swedish environmental activist to delete her post fearing action under the stringent law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) as her name was mentioned in the document, police alleged on Monday.
Among the information retrieved from Ravi’s phone were her purported chats on Whatsapp, a police official said. “Okay can you not tweet the toolkit at all. Can we just not say anything at all for a while. I am gonna talk to lawyers. I am sorry but our names are on it and we can literally get UAPA against us,” Ravi allegedly told Thunberg on Whatsapp, according to an alleged leaked chat transcript.
Opposition politicians and activists criticised the police for arresting Ravi. Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said the government was scared and that India won’t be silenced, while Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal lent his support for the activist.”silencing critics of the government through authoritarian means is not the rule of law,” said Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief MK Stalin.
Activists condemned her arrest. “A toolkit is the most ordinary and commonplace of resources...we believe Disha Ravi and youngsters like her ought to be celebrated, not harassed and demonised,” said environmental activist G Sundarajan in Chennai.