On Thursday, 22-year-old Veewon Thokchom was spending a quiet evening with his siblings when eight men barged into their rented house in south Delhi’s Saket. The Ambedkar University student from Manipur was slapped and dragged into a car. His sister Venika presumed them to be kidnappers as they were in civilian clothing and did not show them any identity card or arrest warrant.

Before leaving the house, two of them gave her their phone numbers and the address of a special police cell in Janakpuri. With family members and friends, Venika rushed to the police station where the police denied keeping Thokchom in custody. Suspicious, her brother filed a missing person complaint at Saket police station. That’s when they found out that Thakchom, the former president and current advisor of the Manipur Student’s Association Delhi (MSAD), had been arrested.

“After refusing to give us any FIR copy, a police officer told us at 2 am that Thokchom has been charged with sedition. The family had a breakdown at that time,” Human Rights Law Network (HRLN)’s Seram Rojesh told Newslaundry. The entire night passed without the family being told Thokchom’s whereabouts and the reason for his arrest. A police officer told them his case would be presented in front of a district magistrate on February 16 but did not give them any details.

In its application to the Saket court, the Manipur Police sought transit remand for five days but the court granted them only three days. Thockchom is now likely to be taken to Imphal today.

Ali Zia Kabir, an advocate at HRLN, alleges that the police even forced an advocate of their choice to represent Thokchom. “The family has never met that advocate nor has the police consulted us. He (the advocate) did not even oppose the remand order in front of the magistrate. The law states that the family has to be informed and the accused has the right to choose his lawyer. We were also not told in which magistrate’s court the case would be presented,” said Ali.

After the hearing, the only legal document the family was given is a transit remand order. Ali says he finds it strange because the document does not even mention the grounds on which the court granted it.

Why was Veewon Thokchom arrested?

Currently preparing for UGC NET and his M. Phil, student activist Thokchom has been an active voice against the government’s move to enact the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. According to his former colleague from the students’ body, during Thokchom’s tenure as MSAD president, he led the criticism of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s controversial statement at Gujarat’s Madhavpur Mela in which the BJP leader claimed that “during the time of Lord Krishna, there was no separate Arunachal Pradesh or Assam or Manipur. The entire northeast was one entity. Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland are bordering China, Lord Krishna made them part of India during his time”.

After drawing flak for distorting the state’s history, the chief minister later retracted his statement and attributed it to his poor command over Hindi.

Imphal Times quoted Imphal East police chief S. Meghachandra as saying that Thokchom was arrested for his call for independence and not for his criticism of the chief minister. It was based on his Facebook post, where he wrote: “Since the Citizenship Amendment Bill was going to be passed by the central government in the Rajya Sabha at any cost, people in Manipur have no option but the right to self-determination i.e. independence”. Thokchom added that this has been the demand of separatist organisations in Manipur.

The FIR was lodged soon after a complaint from the SP (cyber branch). In its preliminary investigation, the police established “plots” made by Thokchom to incite violence during the night of agitation against the Citizenship Bill. A team was then set up to arrest him. The SP said that in one of his messages, Thokchom urged people to intensify agitation, burn properties and confront political parties during curfew in Imphal.

Thokchom’s friends, however, describe him as a law-abiding citizen. “How can a guy who has never been in any fight urge people to burn properties? Veewon had always talked about the oppressed people in Manipur and always held a helping hand to anyone in need,” said one of his friends.

Back home in Manipur, Thokchom’s mother Bimola says a police team had raided their house on February 12 and told them to ask his son to concentrate only on his studies. Thokchom’s parents are retired schoolteachers. Nabakumar Thokchom, Veewon’s father, is an executive member of the state unit of the Communist Party of India. Previously the headmaster of a school in Lamlai, Nabakumar had been a member of the national council of the CPI before poor health forced him to resign.

Veewon’s parents in Manipur.

Did the police flout rules?

For the arrest of a 22-year-old student, eight police officers were sent to the accused’s house. Two of the police officers came all the way from Manipur. Contrary to what Thokchom’s sister said, sub-inspector Jaivir Tewatia—who was part of the joint team of Delhi and Manipur police—claimed no physical force was used during the arrest.

MSAD activists allege that the police have made several attempts to silence the students. In December last year, they claim the police arrived at the union’s general secretary’s house and tried to intimidate him for speaking against the arrest of journalist Wangkhemcha Wangthoi. The activists said the police posed as reporters. A statement from the union said that after a protest against the arrest of the journalist, all leaders were arrested by the police on the order of the Manipur CM.

N Sak Balaji, president of the Jawaharlal Nehru Students Union (JNUSU), raised concerns regarding the government’s action to silence students. “What is happening in our country? Why so much fear from just one student?” he asked, condemning the arrest.

Meanwhile, Ranjeeta Elangbam, wife of arrested TV journalist Kishorechandra Wangkhem, said the charges levelled against Thockchom were similar to those initially levelled against her husband. “Is the government going to arrest everyone criticising or protesting against its action under sedition charges?” she asked.

(Rahul Satija is a Gurgaon-based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.)