High-voltage drama unfolded after a Delhi Police team, which had arrested three Youth Congress workers from Himachal Pradesh over the alleged “shirtless protest” at the AI Impact Summit, was stopped by the state police on Wednesday.
The confusion ended nearly 24 hours later, on Thursday morning, when the Delhi Police team was cleared to return to the national capital with the accused. Those arrested were identified as Saurabh Singh and Arbaaz Khan from Uttar Pradesh, and Siddharth Avdhoot from Madhya Pradesh.
The standoff began on Wednesday when the Himachal Pradesh Police registered a kidnapping case against the Delhi Police personnel and “detained” their vehicles at the Shoghi border near Shimla for nearly five hours. This was despite the Delhi team having obtained transit remand from the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM).
#WATCH | Visuals from outside Shoghi PS, located near Shimla, Himachal Pradesh.
— ANI (@ANI) February 25, 2026
Three Youth Congress workers detained by Delhi Police from Rohru in Shimla district were produced before the court in Shimla today. pic.twitter.com/dqbg5Kqq1P
Later that night, the three accused, along with members of the Delhi Police team, were produced before ACJM Ekansh Kapil. The court granted transit remand, allowing the team to resume their journey to Delhi.
However, on Thursday morning, the Delhi Police team was again stopped by Himachal Police at Kanlog in Shimla. While they were permitted to take the accused to Delhi, accompanied by additional police personnel, some members of the Delhi team were asked to remain behind and cooperate with the investigation into the kidnapping case.
#WATCH | Shimla, Himachal Pradesh: Three Youth Congress workers detained by Delhi Police from Rohru in Shimla district were produced before the court in Shimla today. https://t.co/vhl3xXJI4t pic.twitter.com/iCh041S5hT
— ANI (@ANI) February 25, 2026
Shimla Police also sought a copy of the digital evidence allegedly collected during the arrest of the activists in Rohru. The impasse was eventually resolved after the Delhi Police shared a copy of the seizure memo with the Shimla Police. Although the digital evidence itself was not handed over, the memo listed the materials seized in connection with the case.
Following prolonged arguments, the Delhi Police team was finally allowed to leave with all their vehicles and the three arrested individuals. The accused are now expected to be produced before a local magistrate in Delhi.
"We have given them the memo, which is the seizure memo. This is our government vehicle, in which case, the property was kept, so it could not have been seized. Finally, we are all leaving now. We were kept in detention for so long," Delhi Police ACP Rahul Vikram told ANI.
