Delhi Digital’s Uday Bhanu Chib Arrested After AI Summit Protest

Uday Bhanu Chib, the national president of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC), was sent to four-day police custody on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, following his arrest in connection with a shirtless protest at the AI Impact Summit held last week in New Delhi, officials confirmed.

The Patiala House Court issued the order after Chib was produced before it, bringing the total number of arrests in the case to eight, according to reports. Delhi Police arrested Chib earlier in the day, following questioning on Monday, in relation to the demonstration staged by IYC members at the Bharat Mandapam on February 20.

Seven other IYC workers had been previously arrested, including three individuals from Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh – identified as Jitendra Yadav, Raj Gujjar, and Ajay Kumar. IYC’s Uttar Pradesh general secretary, Ritik alias Monty Shukla, was too detained from Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh. Yadav serves as the national coordinator of the IYC, while Gujjar is the IYC’s Gwalior district president, and Kumar is an office-bearer from Bhind.

The protest involved IYC members removing their outer layers of clothing to reveal T-shirts bearing slogans critical of Prime Minister Modi. Police stated that the protesters had registered online and entered the venue using QR codes, staging the demonstration inside an exhibition hall during the summit. Videos circulating online show security personnel escorting the protesters from the hall.

Authorities have invoked additional sections under the BNS, including 196 (promoting enmity between different groups and acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 197 (assertions prejudicial to national integration), in the First Information Report (FIR), which carry a potential jail term of up to three years. The Congress party has criticized the government following Chib’s arrest, with a statement claiming “PM is scared of questions.”