Toolkit case probe: 22 or 50, law equal for all, says Delhi Police chief on Disha Ravi arrest

New Delhi: Delhi Police Commissioner SN Srivastava on Tuesday said that all procedures were followed in the arrest of activist Disha Ravi for her alleged involvement in preparing a toolkit that details support for farmers protesting against the Central Government’s agricultural laws.

“As far as Disha’s arrest is concerned, it was done as per the procedures,” Srivastava told media here. “Law does not differentiate between a 22-year-old and a 50-year-old. She was produced before a court which sent her to 5-day Police custody,” Srivastava said.

He argued that it is incorrect to say that there were lapses in the arrest.

“It is false when people say that there were lapses in the arrest,” he added.

Without divulging further details, the Police Commissioner said that investigation into the ‘Toolkit’ document case is underway.

“I cannot divulge the details of the case as its investigation is premature. As things will be clear everyone will be notified.” Srivastava said.

Several political leaders have slammed Delhi Police for the arrest of Ravi from Bengaluru and termed her arrest as “unwarranted harassment, unfortunate and shocking”. She was arrested for allegedly editing and disseminating the “toolkit” on social media.

दिशा रवि की गिरफ़्तारी कानून और प्रक्रियाओं का पालन करते हुए हुई है। कानून 22 साल और 50 साल की उम्र में कोई अंतर नहीं करता। कोर्ट ने गिरफ़्तारी को सही मानते हुए 5 दिन की पुलिस हिरासत में भेजा। जो लोग कहते हैं कि गिरफ़्तारी में कोई कमी है ये बिल्कुल मिथ्या है: दिल्ली पुलिस कमिश्नर pic.twitter.com/3bslJT2OYq

— ANI_HindiNews (@AHindinews) February 16, 2021

Another Congress leader P Chidambaram had said, “The Indian state must be standing on very shaky foundations if Disha Ravi, a 22-year-old student of Mount Carmel College and a climate activist, has become a threat to the nation.”

A Delhi court on Sunday had remanded Disha to five days of police custody following her arrest in connection with allegedly spreading a “toolkit” related to the farmers’ protest. Duty Metropolitan Magistrate Dev Saroha of Patiala House Courts Complex allowed Delhi Police to quiz Ravi for five days. She was arrested last week.

According to the Delhi Police officials, Disha is a key conspirator in the “toolkit” case as she had admitted during the initial interrogation to editing, adding some things in the “toolkit” and spreading it further.

Last week, the Delhi Police sent a communication to Google seeking registration details and activity log of the account through which a “toolkit” related to the farmers’ protest was created and uploaded on the social media platform.