Delhi Police have arrested another accused from Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior in connection with the Indian Youth Congress’s (IYC) shirtless protest inside Bharat Mandapam during the AI Impact Summit 2026. The accused, identified as Jitendra Yadav, is a resident of Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh and is allegedly linked to the Indian Youth Congress.
Delhi Police have arrested another accused from Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior in connection with the Indian Youth Congress’s (IYC) shirtless protest inside Bharat Mandapam during the AI Impact Summit 2026. The accused, identified as Jitendra Yadav, is a resident of Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh and is allegedly linked to the Indian Youth Congress.
Who is Jitendra Yadav?
Jitendra Yadav is a resident of Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh and is allegedly linked to the Indian Youth Congress. A photo of him with Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has also surfaced on social media platforms. Yadav has been sent to two-day police custody as part of the ongoing investigation into the protest case.
What exactly happened at AI Impact Summit 2026?
India hosted the world’s largest artificial intelligence conclave, the AI Impact Summit-2026, at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. The summit, which began on February 16, saw packed halls and long queues, as tech moguls, industry leaders, policymakers, founders, and technologists thronged the venue.
Around 10 activists of the Congress’s youth wing had entered the AI Summit venue and staged a shirtless protest, raising slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the India-US trade deal. The protesters wore or carried white T-shirts printed with images of PM Modi and US President Donald Trump along with slogans targeting the government.
Court’s reaction
A Delhi court on Saturday approved a five-day police custody for the four Youth Congress workers who staged the shirtless protest at Bharat Mandapam during the AI Summit. The court came down heavily on the IYC, saying that their conduct was not legitimate dissent, rather a “blatant assault on public order” that imperilled India’s diplomatic image.
While allowing the Delhi Police’s plea for custodial interrogation, the magistrate said that the alleged actions of the accused “imperil not merely the event’s sanctity but also the Republic’s diplomatic image before foreign stakeholders, rendering it wholly unprotected by constitutional safeguards”.
Police investigation underway
Delhi Police said that the accused had staged a protest similar to the protest in Nepal, claiming that it was a conspiracy to defame the country internationally. The court said custodial interrogation was essential to unearth a larger conspiracy, funding sources, digital evidence, and possible absconding associates. It noted that the accused hailed from remote regions, raising concerns about flight risk.
PM Modi’s reaction on ‘shirtless protest’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also hit out at Congress and accused it of using a global event for its “dirty and naked politics”. In a scathing jibe at Congress, PM Modi said, “You are already naked, then why did you feel the need to take off your clothes?”
The PM further added, “What the Congress leaders did there shows how ideologically bankrupt and impoverished the oldest party of the country has become. Congress is busy defaming its own country. Some political parties within the country cannot digest India’s success. We just witnessed the world’s largest AI conference in India. But what did the Congress and its ecosystem do? The Congress turned a global event for India into a platform for its dirty and naked politics.”
