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New Delhi: On the afternoon of May 30, Yogesh Meena, a Delhi University student, was walking past Ramjas College with his friend Sameer when a vehicle pulled up beside them. The occupants – some in plainclothes and others in police uniforms – called out Yogesh’s name, and subsequently forced both of them into the vehicle without showing any warrant, arrest memo, or identification cards. Sameer was released a few hours later, while Yogesh was taken away by the UP Police.

Sameer, an 18-year-old first-year student at Ramjas College and a native of Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, told the Delhi Police in a complaint on June 1 that while being forced into the vehicle, they were told there was a complaint against them and so they were being taken in for questioning. This complaint was sent via email to the SHO of Maurice Nagar, the DCP of Civil Lines, and the Delhi Police Commissioner.

According to Sameer, the vehicle was driven first to the Mukherjee Nagar police station, then to the Maurice Nagar police station, and later towards the Noida border. For approximately two to three hours, he and Yogesh were interrogated inside the vehicle and subjected to intimidation. Sameer was eventually dropped off near the Maurice Nagar police station, while the UP Police took Yogesh away.

This action is reportedly part of the measures being taken by the Uttar Pradesh Police following the protests staged by workers in Noida in mid-April. 

Newspapers such as Dainik Bhaskar and Hindustan confirmed Yogesh’s arrest, citing police sources. Additionally, the remand sheet issued by the police revealed that the magistrate had ordered Yogesh to be sent to judicial custody for 14 days. However, no information regarding this had been disclosed initially.

Yogesh is a 23-year-old second-year law student from Delhi University’s prestigious Shri Ram College of Commerce. His friends said that due to his arrest he would be unable to sit for the examinations that are currently underway.

On June 4, an application was filed on Yogesh’s behalf before the magistrate at the Gautam Buddh Nagar court, seeking a directive to the jail administration to provide him with study materials and resources related to his exams. The application stated that Yogesh is an LLB student whose semester examinations are in progress, with papers scheduled for June 5 and June 11.

According to the petition, he had already taken one exam prior to his arrest but was subsequently remanded to judicial custody.

The application requested the court to ensure he was provided with his books, class notes, stationery, and other study materials, and to issue necessary instructions to the jail superintendent allowing him to appear for the remaining university examinations.

Magistrate R.K. Sagar signed the application with the note: “The jail superintendent should take necessary action in accordance with the rules.”

However, Yogesh’s associates informed The Wire Hindi that he was not permitted to take the exam scheduled for June 5.

The petition filed seeking permission for Yogesh to take the exam. It bears the magistrate’s signature, directing the jail superintendent to take appropriate action.

According to the remand sheet, a case has been registered against Yogesh at the Noida Phase-2 police station under FIR number 169/2026.

Yogesh’s friends claimed that the sole basis for his arrest is a WhatsApp group and that several other activists who were part of this group are also currently under arrest. Yogesh was a member of the group named ‘Richa Global’. The police claimed that this group was central in hatching a conspiracy to incite violence during the protests held in April.

Ploy of calling the movement a ‘conspiracy’

During the labour movement in Noida in the month of April,........

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