The Himachal Pradesh Police on Wednesday detained a team of at least 20 Delhi Police personnel after they allegedly made unauthorised arrests of three Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers in Rohru, Shimla district. The Delhi Police was in the state to arrest Youth Congress workers for being involved in the shirtless protest during the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.

The incident took place near Dharampur in Solan district in the early hours of the day. The Delhi Police team had travelled to Rohru to detain the three IYC functionaries in connection with the demonstration and was reportedly en route back to the capital with the individuals in custody when Himachal Pradesh Police intervened.

According to Himachal Police officials, the arrests by the Delhi team were deemed illegal because proper procedures were not followed, including a lack of coordination or intimation to the local state police. Acting on information received, Shimla Police, supported by Solan district forces, set up checkpoints on the route and intercepted the Delhi Police vehicle near Dharampur.

The three Youth Congress workers were released from what the state police described as unlawful detention and brought back to Shimla.

“Himachal Police intervened after receiving information about the detention. Shimla Police has brought back the three youths, who were taken into illegal detention by Delhi Police. They are being produced before a local court as per legal procedure,” Himachal Pradesh police said.

The detained Delhi Police personnel were subsequently produced before the district and sessions court in Shimla. A senior Himachal Police officer said that no formal FIR has yet been registered against the Delhi officers, though the Shimla Police have filed a private complaint in the court of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM)-2, detailing the sequence of events.