Delhi Police arrest fifth accused in connection with ‘shirtless’ IYC protest at Bharat Mandapam

GWALIOR: The Delhi police have arrested Jitendra Yadav from Gwalior in connection with the Youth Congress protest at Bharat Mandapam, on Monday. This marks the fifth arrest in the ongoing investigation into the demonstration held during the India AI Impact Summit 2026.

Prior to Yadav’s arrest, four other leaders — Krishna Hari, Kundan Yadav, Ajay Kumar and Narasimha Yadav — were apprehended and remanded to five days of police custody by the Patiala House Court.

According to Delhi Police, the officials have recovered T-shirts and posters that were used in the Indian Youth Congress’s protest at the AI Summit at Bharat Mandapam from Indian Youth Congress leader Krishna Hari’s car. Police have also detained another Youth Congress protester and are conducting raids to search for the remaining protesters.

Meanwhile, the Patiala House Court on Saturday rejected the bail applications of all four arrested Indian Youth Congress workers and sent the accused to police custody for five days.

#WATCH | Delhi | Four arrested Youth Congress leaders brought out of the Patiala House Court

One of the arrested accused says, “Hardeep Singh Puri must go.” https://t.co/1DXzWBPMyt pic.twitter.com/DTRfsf1QBc

— ANI (@ANI) February 21, 2026

Earlier, the Delhi police had sought five days’ custody of these four accused persons, who were among those who performed a shirtless protest at the AI Summit at Bharat Mandapam for raising anti-national slogans in the presence of international leaders and dignitaries.

Their custody is required to arrest other accused persons who fled from the spot, the Delhi police said.The counsel for the accused argued and submitted that the accused belongs to a political party. They used their right to organise a protest at Bharat Mandapam. The protest was peaceful; there is no video that shows any violence. It is also submitted that they are office bearers and educated individuals with degrees.

This comes after members of the Indian Youth Congress staged a protest at the Bharat Mandapam venue of the Al Impact India Summit in the national capital by removing their shirts with slogans that read, “Compromised PM”.The party workers removed their shirts as a mark of dissent.

Earlier, in a statement, the Indian Youth Congress said its workers were protesting against a “compromised Prime Minister who has traded the identity of the country at the AI Summit.”Police later detained the protesters. Meanwhile, BJP workers held a protest across multiple states against the Congress over the Indian Youth Congress protest at the India AI Impact Summit yesterday.

In Surat and Jammu, BJP cadres staged demonstrations against the Congress, while in Delhi, members of the BJP Yuva Morcha held protests condemning the incident. (ANI)