The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has successfully apprehended the main accused, Aditya Anand alias Rasti, from Tiruchirappalli railway station, Tamil Nadu, for engineering the factory workers’ protests in Noida’s industrial hub, which took a violent turn on April 13 (Monday). Demonstrators torched vehicles, pelted stones and blocked roads resulting in vandalism and clashes with the police.
The accused, Aditya Anand, was not a factory worker in Noida but was present when the protests took place. He, with 2 others: Rupeesh Roy and Manisha Chauhan are accused of creating multiple WhatsApp groups using QR codes to mobilise protesters.
Shocking revelations by the police disclose that “WhatsApp groups were created at 2am after Haryana wage hike” on April 10. Each group reportedly added 800 members from industries such as the Motherson and Richa Industries.
Aditya Anand is also accused of delivering provocative speeches to incite people. He confessed to the conspiracy during interrogation and is being brought back on transit remand.
Out of the GG arrested initially for violence in Noida protests, 45 are not workers.
The Pakistan link: a grave threat to internal security
The UP police also identified two ‘X’ accounts, being operated from Pakistan, fanning violence and spreading death rumours during the Noida protests, attempting to fuel further unrest.
This exposes the grey-zone warfare tactics and cross-border disinformation campaigns being employed by Pakistan to constantly cause disturbances and disruptions in Bharat.
The protests began as a low-scale agitation on April 10, seeking pay parity with their Haryana counterparts.
Further legal proceedings are underway.
