2 Pakistani X handles incited Noida labour unrest, say police; 13 FIRs registered, 62 in custody
NOIDA: Two accounts on social media site X operated from Pakistan fanned violence during the April 13 labour protest for a hike in minimum wages, Noida police claimed on Thursday.The accounts, Anushi Tiwari (Proud Indian) and Meer Ilyas Inc, made claims about multiple deaths during the protest to incite workers, police said, adding information received since from X revealed that both accounts were being operated from Pakistan using VPNs. An FIR has been registered at Sector 20 police station.Police also said they are probing the role of a group called ‘Mazdoor Bigul Dasta’, whose members allegedly mobilised workers and incited violence. According to them, three individuals — Rupeesh Roy, Manisha Chauhan and Aditya Anand — created multiple WhatsApp groups using QR codes, each adding more than 800 members, including workers from major industrial units such as Motherson and Richa Industries, on April 10 around 2am, after Haryana had notified a 35% hike in minimum wages.
Rupeesh Roy
Police commissioner Laxmi Singh said none of the three was from Noida and came to the city on March 31 to hold meetings with workers in different industrial sectors. They also participated in the April 10 protest when industrial workers first came out on streets to seek pay parity with their Haryana counterparts.
Aditya Anand (in t-shirt)
Roy and Chauhan were arrested on April 11. Anand, however, managed to evade arrest. A BTech graduate from NIT Jamshedpur and a resident of Hazaribagh in Jharkhand, Anand, according to police, also played a role in mobilising protesters during the agitation against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register for Citizens (NRC). Roy, meanwhile, was also allegedly involved in the Manesar protest that preceded Haryana’s wage hike decision. Rai, police said, is from Hazaribagh in Jharkhand, and drives an auto for a living.The X accounts were created by Yogesh, who police identified as an associate of Roy identified as Yogesh.So far, 13 FIRs have been registered, and 62 accused have been sent to judicial custody. Police have not ruled out invoking National Security Act (NSA) against some of the accused. Singh described the violence as part of a coordinated attempt to disturb law and order, combining both digital misinformation and on-ground mobilisation.
