Noida protests update: Aditya Anand nabbed by Uttar Pradesh STF; what we know so far

In a major development after the violent Noida workers' protests earlier this week, a Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday nabbed one of the main conspirators, Aditya Anand.

Anand, who was allegedly one of the three main people accused of inciting violence in the protests by creating more than 80 WhatsApp groups to spread misinformation, was arrested from Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu.

The STF had earlier offered a Rs 1 lakh reward for his capture when he went missing just after the violent protests.

The Noida protests, which initially began as peaceful demonstrations on wage hikes on April 10—and saw participation from thousands of workers across the National Capital Region (NCR)—quickly spiralled out of control by April 13.

In the days that followed, over 300 individuals were arrested, in addition to seven FIRs filed. Legal action was also taken against two X accounts—allegedly linked to Pakistan—for spreading misinformation and further fuelling the violence.

Anand was one of the three co-conspirators accused of inciting violence apart from Rupesh Rai and Manisha Chauhan—both of whom were caught by the STF earlier.

“The violence that occurred in Noida was a mala fide, internationally organised activity ... Rupesh has been continuously travelling across the country since 2018, and Aditya since 2020; wherever any agitation takes place, they are present there. Rupesh Roy identifies himself as an auto-rickshaw driver, while Aditya is unemployed," Noida Police Commissioner Laxmi Singh had said in an earlier statement.

She added that when a peaceful settlement was reached in the protests on April 11, these individuals had delivered "inflammatory speeches", which allegedly incited the workers to organise violent protests from the very next day onwards.