New Delhi, May 15: The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to produce two accused arrested in connection with inciting violence during the industrial workers’ protest in Noida on April 13.
A bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan asked the counsel appearing for the state government to produce Aditya Anand and Rupesh Roy before it on May 18 at 2 PM.
The top court was hearing a plea filed by Aditya Anand’s brother Keshaw Anand alleging torture by Uttar Pradesh Police officials.
The plea alleged that Aditya was subjected to custodial violence by the Uttar Pradesh Police following his arrest in the case.
Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for Anand, submitted that Aditya is an engineer working in a factory and also ran a library for children.
Seeking an independent probe into the matter, Gonsalves told the court that Aditya’s speeches at the protests were centred on workers’ rights and that recordings were available to support this claim.
The counsel appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government refuted the allegations of custodial torture and said that due legal process was followed in the arrest.
Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh Police invoked provisions of the National Security Act (NSA), 1980 against student activist Akriti Choudhary and journalist Satyam Verma in connection with the Noida workers’ protest case.
Gautam Buddh Nagar Police on Thursday claimed that more than Rs 1 crore from foreign countries was credited to the personal bank account of an accused linked to violent labour protests in Noida last month.
In a statement, police said the amount was received in the form of dollars, pounds and euros in the bank account of the accused Satyam Verma.
The matter came to light during an investigation into the cases registered in connection with violent demonstrations and labour protests that took place under the Gautam Buddh Nagar Police Commissionerate on April 13, they said.
According to police, around 40,000 to 45,000 workers and labourers from various sectors had gathered across more than 80 locations in the commissionerate area, leading to unrest and disruption of normal movement.
It stated that Verma, along with another accused identified as Akriti, played a “pivotal role” in the violent protests, arson and disruption of public order during the labour agitation.
“Consequently, action has been initiated against both accused persons under the National Security Act,” the statement said.
According to police, Verma was arrested from Lucknow on April 19 along with Himanshu Thakur, both active members of left-wing workers’ rights group Bigul Mazdoor Dasta.
Earlier, they had arrested Aditya, who was said to be the alleged mastermind behind the incidents.
Investigation revealed that Verma transferred the funds received from various foreign countries to his other personal bank accounts on multiple occasions, police said, adding that he was associated with several organisations that are currently under intensive scrutiny.
