Climate activist Disha Ravi sent to 5 days police custody  

New Delhi: A Delhi court sent Sunday 21-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi to five days police custody. Disha Ravi was arrested in connection with allegedly being involved in sharing a ‘toolkit’ on social media related to the farmers’ protest. She was arrested Saturday by a Cyber Cell team of the Delhi Police from Bangalore. Ravi was produced before a court here and police sought her seven days’ custody.

The police said her custody was required to probe an alleged larger conspiracy against the government of India. They said they are trying to ascertain her alleged role relating to the Khalistan movement.

During the hearing, Ravi broke down inside the courtroom. She told the judge that she had edited only two lines and she wanted to support the farmers’ protest. Duty Magistrate Dev Saroha allowed the Delhi Police to quiz Ravi for five days.

The police told the court that Ravi had allegedly edited the ‘toolkit’ February 3. They stated many other people are involved in the matter. It also informed the court that they have recovered the mobile phone of the activist.

A ‘toolkit’ is a document created to explain any issue. It also provides information on what one needs to do to address the issue. This might include information about petitions, details about protests and mass movements.

Earlier, the Delhi Police had asked Google and some social media giants to provide information about email id, URLs and certain social media accounts related to the creators of the ‘toolkit’ shared by Greta Thunberg and others on Twitter in connection with the farmers’ protests.

The Cyber Cell had lodged an FIR against ‘pro-Khalistan’ creators of the ‘toolkit’. It was alleged they were for waging a ‘social, cultural and economic war against the government of India’.

The case against unnamed persons was registered on charges of criminal conspiracy, sedition. Various other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were also added to the charges.

The ‘toolkit’ was aimed at spreading disaffection and ill-will against the government of India. It wanted to create disharmony among various social, religious and cultural groups, the police claimed.