Activist Disha Ravi on Friday was sent to 3-day judicial custody by Delhi’s Patiala House Court in the toolkit case. The activist was produced before ACMM Aakash Jain at the Patiala House Court.
Disha Ravi, who was first produced before the court on February 14 and sent to 5-day police remand was evasive during the investigation, therefore, they needed three days more, said Delhi Police Prosecutor Irfan Ahmed.
Delhi Police said in the Patiala House Court that Disha Ravi has been evasive in giving replies during the interrogation and shifted the blame onto co-accused Nikita Jacob and Shantanu Muluk, therefore, a notice has been served to Shantanu and that is the reason Disha has to be confronted infront of him.
The police requested the court to send her to three-day judicial custody, as they have served a notice to co-accused Shantanu, who will join the investigation on February 22, following which both will be confronted.
“She has been evasive in giving replies. We have served notice to co-accused Shantanu who will join the investigation on February 22. She has to be confronted with the co-accused,” Public Prosecutor Irfan Ahmed told the court.
The prosecutor added, “During the course of interrogation, Disha Ravi has shifted the blame on Nikita and Shantanu. All the accused need to be confronted with each other. That’s why three days judicial custody is being sought.”
Metropolitan Magistrate Akash Jain will pronounce the order on the police application seeking three-day judicial custody at 4 pm. The court was also informed that Disha Ravi has moved a bail application which will come up for hearing on February 20.
The 21-year-old activist was produced before the court amid high security at the end of her five-day police custody.
Ravi was arrested from Bengaluru on February 13 in connection with allegedly editing and sharing a ‘toolkit’ on social media related to the farmers’ protest.
She was then remanded to five-day police custody. The Delhi Police sought it to identify Pro-Khalistani Group — Poetic Justice Foundation and its active members, and to recover the deleted WhatsApp Group.
The Cyber Cell had lodged an FIR against “pro-Khalistan” creators of the “Toolkit” for waging a “social, cultural and economic war against the government of India”.
On February 14, the Delhi Police took to microblogging website Twitter to elaborate on the case. It wrote, “Disha Ravi, arrested by Delhi Police, is an Editor of the Toolkit Google Doc and key conspirator in document’s formulation and dissemination.”
She started WhatsApp Group and collaborated to make the Toolkit document, the police said, adding that she worked closely with them to draft it.
“In this process, they all collaborated with the pro Khalistani Poetic Justice Foundation to spread disaffection against the Indian State. She was the one who shared the Toolkit Doc with Greta Thunberg,” the police wrote on Twitter.