Disha Ravi, the climate activist arrested over a farmers’ protest toolkit linked to Republic Day violence in Delhi – has been sent to judicial custody for three days after she was produced in a court today by Delhi Police. The 22-year-old who was arrested last week is facing charges of conspiracy and sedition.
The Google document, which was tweeted by Swedish climate crusader Greta Thunberg earlier this month to back farmers’ protest and then deleted, was created by Ms Ravi and two other activists Nikita Jacob and Shantanu Muluk, police had alleged this week.
Stressing on the possibility of “evidence tampering”, the cops today sought three more days of judicial custody for Ms Ravi; she was in police custody for five days.
“I did not make the toolkit. We wanted to support the farmers. I edited two lines on February 3,” Disha Ravi had told a court on Sunday.
However, 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) along with Shantanu and Nikita and sent it to others,” senior Delhi Police officer Prem Nath told reporters on Monday.
“The main aim of the toolkit was to spread misinformation against the lawfully elected government. They also sought public participation in the action on January 26, Republic Day of India. We acted against Disha because she deleted a WhatsApp group created to coordinate for the toolkit,” he had said.
High Court has told news channels to “ensure that proper editorial control is exercised while disseminating information to ensure the investigation is not hampered”
