Over two months after Noida’s industrial belt witnessed violent protests, the Uttar Pradesh police have now filed chargesheets in four FIRs – 163, 164, 165, and 169.

Among the evidence: a children’s library inauguration described as a planning meeting, Palestine solidarity posters logged as incriminating recoveries, a man formally accused of “Marxist ideology”, and a WhatsApp instruction to protect members’ privacy logged as proof of intent to commit “some anti-national act”.

According to the chargesheets, the violence caused losses of around Rs 3,000 crore. Police claim that about 60 vehicles were burnt, 59 companies were damaged through vandalism and stone-pelting, and industrial units remained shut for several days.

Across the four chargesheets filed, investigators allege a consistent theory: that the violence was not the outcome of an escalating labour protest but the culmination of a carefully planned conspiracy orchestrated by a small group of left-wing activists and labour organisers.

Newslaundry examined all four chargesheets to understand how investigators constructed this conspiracy case and the evidence they rely on to support it.

Four days of 'improper demands'

According to the chargesheet in FIR 163, workers from several factories began protesting and blocking roads on April 10 over what police described as “improper demands”.

The “improper demands” referred to by the police included increases in the minimum wage, double overtime, and weekly offs, among others.

Police said attempts to negotiate with the protesting workers failed, following which, “On 11 April, a crowd of approximately 1,500 to 2,000 workers blocked the main Dadri Road and, in front of Noida Special Economic Zone (NSEZ), delivered inflammatory speeches and incited the demonstrators to violence, upon which the crowd of agitators began causing a nuisance.”

The workers, police claim, “began vandalising private property at various places in the area, pelting stones at the police, assaulting them, hurling abuses and threatening to kill them, as a result of which several police personnel sustained injuries.”

It was at this stage that investigators, relying on statements of company owners, first alleged the involvement of activists and labour organisers – among them Aakriti Choudhary (a theatre practitioner), Srishti Gupta (a visual artist), Manisha Chauhan (a factory worker), Rupesh Roy (an auto-rickshaw driver) and Aditya Anand (a software engineer) – around whom much of the case centres.

The chargesheet reads, “several company owners stated that Rupesh Roy, Aditya Anand and others named therein were involved, and stated that Aakriti, Srishti, Manisha, Rupesh Roy, Aditya Anand and their other associates, under a pre-planned scheme, committed criminal misconduct and turned the workers’ agitation into a violent agitation.”

While referring to the arrest of Aakriti, Srishti and Manisha, the police repeatedly cite the location of their arrest as Sector 39 at the Botanical Garden metro station, from where Srishti had started a live video on April 11 at 7 pm, claiming the three were being “abducted” by the UP Police. 

While the violence peaked on April 13, the allegation that a handful of activists orchestrated the unrest became the organising principle of all four chargesheets. As the investigation moves from FIR 163 to FIR 169, the police narrative expands from claims of “inflammatory speeches” to allegations of planning meetings, WhatsApp networks, ideological mobilisation, foreign funding and an organised criminal conspiracy.

Across the four chargesheets, police invoked 26 provisions under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with provisions of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act. The charges span offences relating to rioting (BNS 191(2)), criminal conspiracy (BNS 61(2)), attempt to murder (BNS 109), assaulting a public servant (BNS 121(1)), damage to public property (BNS 324(4)) and other serious allegations, with the exact combination of sections varying across the four FIRs.

Taken together, the varying combinations of offences expand the prosecution’s case from allegations of violence during the protests to an alleged organised criminal conspiracy.

The anatomy of a ‘plot’

According to the chargesheets, preparations for the violence allegedly began nearly three weeks before workers took to the streets.

The chargesheet for FIR 169 traces the alleged conspiracy to March 22, when a library inauguration organised under the banner of the Bhagat Singh Yuva Kendra at the house of a Karawal Nagar resident, allegedly doubled as a planning meeting.

The chargesheet states that Aditya, Rupesh, Satyam Verma (a Lucknow-based journalist and translator), Aakriti, Srishti, Manisha and other associates connected with the Revolutionary Workers........

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