India Gate protest: Police cite Instagram post on Hidma, Marxism to oppose students’ bail
While the protest at India Gate on November 23 was reportedly called over poor air quality, police had told the court that they were probing “Naxal links” as the protesters had “raised slogans in support of Naxalites”.
Opposing the bail pleas of college students who were arrested during a protest in the Capital in which several police personnel were allegedly attacked with pepper spray, the Delhi Police has cited Instagram posts to allege “Naxal links”.
While the protest at India Gate on November 23 was reportedly called over poor air quality, police had told the court that they were probing “Naxal links” as the protesters had “raised slogans in support of Naxalites”.
Twenty-three protesters — mostly Delhi University students reportedly associated with the Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch (BSCEM) and Himkhand, an environmental research and action collective — have been arrested.
On Monday, police told a Delhi court that an Instagram post by the BSCEM “glorified” Maoist commander Madvi Hidma, who was killed in an encounter in Andhra Pradesh last month.
“During investigation, a post has been found on the Instagram page of BSCEM mentioning ‘statement against the fake encounter of comrade Madvi Hidma and six others…by fascist Indian State’,” the Delhi Police said in its reply to the bail applications of six accused persons, filed before Judicial Magistrate First Class Aridaman Singh Cheema of Patiala House Courts.
The police said an eight-page article “glorifying Hidma” was found on the Instagram page. The police quoted the post as saying: “Red salute to Madvi Hidma, blood debt of the martyrs will be repaid. Long live the revolutionary martyrs. Long live Marxism, Leninism, Maoism.”
According to the police, in another social media post, three of the accused persons “can be seen singing songs glorifying the Radical Students Union (RSU)”.
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Earlier, DCP (New Delhi) Devesh Mahla had told the court: “RSU is a banned organisation… it was the frontal organisation (for Maoists). The accused have praised them on social media.”
Two FIRs have been lodged against the protesters, under charges related to assault, obstruction of public servants and outraging the modesty of women. While eight protesters were granted bail in one FIR earlier, they were arrested in the second case. So far, 21 of the 23 protesters — all in judicial or police custody — have been made an accused in both cases.
Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.
Professional Background
Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.
Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.
Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.
Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.
Recent notable articles
In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.
1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.
2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.
3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.
Signature Style
Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.
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