NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Monday identified the creators and editors of the toolkit document which was created to gain traction on the social media for the farmers protests but has now been linked to the violence that took place during the January 26 tractor rally.
Delhi Police investigation has revealed the involvement of Khalistani groups in creating the toolkit which aimed to create a “Twitter storm” and enable “disaffection towards Indian state”, said Prem Nath, joint commissioner of Delhi Police cyber cell, at a presser on Monday.
Delhi Police has also got in touch with Google, on whose platform the toolkit document was created, and has posed several questions to the tech giant. “We have received some answers from Google,” said the police.
Nikita Jacobs, Shantanu identified as creators of toolkit
Delhi Police has identified Nikita Jacobs, Shantanu, Punit and Disha Ravi as the creators of the toolkit who also edited it after it was shared and subsequently deleted by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on her Twitter account.
The senior Delhi Police officer said that several screenshots of the toolkit openly available on the internet were investigated and once the probe fetched enough information, the police got search warrants on February 9.
“On February 11, a special cell team reached Mumbai and conducted a search at Nikita Jacob’s house. She was not available. Her electronic gadgets were examined,” said Nath.
The email account created by Shantanu is the owner of this toolkit document and all others are its editors, said the top cop. We will visit Jacob’s home again to question her, Nath added.
Thunberg had shared the “toolkit” to lend her support to the farmers’ agitation against the three farm reform laws. In the document, various urgent actions, including creating a Twitter storm and protesting outside Indian embassies, were listed which were needed to be taken to support the farmers’ protest.
The toolkit has been cited by some critics as a “proof” of conspiracy to fuel protests in India.
Disha Ravi deleted the WhatsApp group
Delhi Police Jt. CP Nath said that the Police took action against Disha Ravi because she deleted a WhatsApp group which was created for collaborating on the toolkit.
On Sunday, a Delhi court granted five-day custody of the 21-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi who is based in Bengaluru and has been associated with Thunberg’s FridaysForFuture campaign’s India chapter.
“Incriminating data was found on Disha’s phone. The toolkit was made to create disaffection,” said Nath.
The police also said that the controversial toolkit document was shared by Disha Ravi with Thunberg via Telegram app.
The Khalistani angle
“A woman named Puneet who is based in Canada connected these people to the pro-Khalistani Poetic Justice Foundation,” said Nath.
As per the Delhi Police investigation, Nikita Jacobs, Shantanu, Puneet and Disha Ravi held a meeting with Poetic Justice Foundation’s Mo Dhaliwal on Zoom call ahead of the January 26 violence.
“Dhaliwal contacted Nikita Jacob via his colleague Puneet. Motive was to create a Twitter storm ahead of Republic Day. There was a zoom meeting that was attended by Dhaliwal, Nikita, Disha & others,” as per Delhi Police sources.
(With inputs from agencies)