New Delhi: Accusations of motivated and selective action by the Uttar Pradesh Police in cases filed around the Noida workers’ protest have gained momentum after an alleged agent provocateur was granted bail – while a student arrested for “knowing” him remains imprisoned.A court in Gautam Buddha Nagar has granted bail to Anil Kumar, a driver who had been arrested in connection with the Noida labour movement case. This development is significant as activists had accused Kumar of “infiltrating” the protest in order to derail it.On June 3, additional sessions court judge Sandeep Chaudhary directed Kumar to furnish a personal bond of Rs 50,000, along with a surety of the same amount. The court observed that although the case diary mentions his participation in a WhatsApp group, including alleged circulation of audio messages, no specific evidence directly linking him to the violent incidents has been presented.The order also highlighted that Kumar, who had been in jail since May 20, was not named in the original first information report (FIR), while three other co-accused in the case had already been granted bail.The Wire Hindi had previously reported that the Uttar Pradesh police have arrested Yogesh Meena, a 23-year-old student pursuing an LLB programme at Delhi University’s Faculty of Law, in connection with the protests. Police statements suggested that Yogesh’s involvement in the case was based on his purported ties to Kumar, who has now been let go.Screengrab from “Richa Global (Noida)” WhatsApp group displaying Kumar’s messages. Activists had accused Kumar of attempting to derail the protestsKumar’s name first surfaced in April, when he was found to have participated in a WhatsApp group formed during the workers’ protest against the Noida-based firm, Richa Global. Several activists subsequently alleged that Kumar and a sub-inspector of the UP police, Bina Kaur, had infiltrated the workers’ social media groups to derail and provoke the protests. These allegations formed the basis of petitions submitted before the Supreme Court by arrested activists and were also raised at press conferences. The Wire had confirmed that Kumar sent a voice note to the “Richa Global (Noida)” WhatsApp group on April 13, saying, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is coming to inaugurate the bypass; the entire road should be blocked tomorrow.” Kumar told The Wire that he worked as a contractual driver for the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and had previously been employed at Richa Global.Grounds for Yogesh’s arrestYogesh was picked up by the police on May 30 and has been named as an accused in FIR no. 169/2026 related to the workers’ protests. According to both Hindustan and Dainik Bhaskar, UP police cited conversations between Kumar and Yogesh as one of the primary grounds for the latter’s arrest. Alluding to police’s remarks, Dainik Bhaskar reported, “The investigation revealed that there was constant contact between Kumar and Yogesh. They had also spoken to each other on the day the violence occurred.” This narrative, however, has been contested by Keshav Anand, a petitioner in the Supreme Court case against the workers’ protest, and Yogesh’s associates, who say the official version of events is inconsistent with facts. They say that Kumar’s role in the protests had been repeatedly questioned by activists. Anand says the existing chat records indicate that Yogesh had called out the inflammatory messages that Kumar posted in the group. Furthermore, Yogesh had reached out to Kumar only once, that too to ask why he was sending such messages, and he was unable to reach him. What is more, Yogesh’s lawyer and associates say they have not been informed of the grounds for his arrest. The Wire Hindi reached out to the Station House Officer (SHO) of Noida’s Phase-2 police station to confirm whether Yogesh was detained due to his association with Kumar. The police have not yet replied. Additionally, in documents pertaining to the FIR, the space designated for the Investigating Officer’s (IO) contact number lists only a nine digit number (mobile phone numbers have ten digits), making it impossible to contact the officer. ‘No evidence of direct involvement’When it comes to the case against Kumar, during arguments for his bail, the defence argued that he has been falsely implicated, emphasising that his name does not appear in the original FIR. It was also noted that while the incident occurred on April 13, the FIR was lodged on April 23, with no explanation provided for the delay. Kumar’s lawyer, Manoj Bhati, said his client was apprehended simply because his number was on a WhatsApp group – one he had joined during his time at Richa Global – and that no evidence of his direct involvement in any protest had been presented. The court stated in its ruling, “The case diary indicates that the accused is alleged to have been part of a WhatsApp group where he shared inflammatory audio messages, inciting individuals to engage in violent acts. However, no concrete evidence has been presented to establish his direct involvement in these violent incidents.”Bhati further argued that a phone call cannot, by itself, constitute adequate evidence of criminal conspiracy. He said that the police lack direct evidence in a majority of the cases filed and have failed to establish concrete links against those arrested concerning allegations of violence, arson or other offences. In fact, the basis for the arrest of most activists in the case is said to be their presence on the Richa Global WhatsApp group.Questions over selective actionFellow activists allege that Yogesh was targeted because of his vocal support for the labour movement and his active role in campaigns demanding the release of arrested activists. They add proper procedure was not followed during the arrest.Advocate Ali Zia Kabir, who is representing Yogesh, informed The Wire Hindi that the police have not disclosed essential documents like the arrest memo, grounds for arrest and the FIR copy, constituting a violation of Supreme Court’s orders.DU student Yogesh Meena was detained by UP Police on May 30 in connection with the Noida protests. Photo: By arrangement.Kabir said, “The legal ruling regarding this matter is very clear. Numerous Supreme Court judgments, including Vihaan Kumar and D.K. Basu, have emphasised that the grounds for arrest should be provided in writing. The onus is on the police, not the accused, to prove that he has done something wrong. If this procedure is violated, the accused cannot be detained even for a second. Moreover, the concerned police officers may face contempt proceedings and departmental action, or even criminal action, if necessary.”Shreeja, a PhD researcher and activist, said UP Police relied solely on WhatsApp conversations during its investigation. It has implied that the movement was a conspiracy woven across multiple groups instead of a spontaneous incident. “In every hearing, we have been demanding the police to present even a single inflammatory message sent by the activists or any other concrete evidence of the alleged conspiracy, but till now nothing has been presented,” she said.She argued that the timeline surrounding Kumar’s arrest was a cause for suspicion. Kumar, whose inflammatory audio messages have been publicly available since April 17, was arrested only after the Supreme Court issued a notice to the UP government. His bail hearing faced little opposition from police and bail was granted swiftly. “Meanwhile, students, artists and activists, who were appealing to the workers to strike peacefully are still in jail and are being described as a national security threat,” she said.Crackdown on activists and workersClick on the icon to read.The Noida labour movement began in April, when workers at several factories in the city launched protests demanding salary hikes, better working conditions and labour rights. On April 13, violence broke out during the demonstration. Protestors alleged provoked police action, whereas the authorities maintained that the crowd had turned violent first, necessitating police action. Since then, the UP police have arrested numerous labourers and activists. Among them are senior journalist Satyam Verma, student activist Aakriti Chaudhary and other including Aditya Anand, Rupesh Rai, Srishti, Himanshu, Manisha and Yogesh Meena. The National Security Act (NSA) has been invoked against Verma and Chaudhary.Labour rights organisations like the ‘Campaign for Release of Workers and Activists of Noida’ (CaRWAN), allege that police are continually implicating workers in legal matters by registering multiple FIRs regarding the same incident – aiming to suppress dissent and silence the movement demanding fair compensation for work. The police have also been using terms such as “conspiracy” and “mastermind” in relation to the workers’ protests case. The Wire Hindi has contacted UP police multiple times via phone calls and emails, seeking to obtain comments on accusations of selective action and on the status of the investigation. However, no response has been received. This report will be updated as and when the police responds. This article was originally published in The Wire Hindi. It has been translated by Naushin Rehman.