10 detained for staging protest at AI Impact Summit expo hall
New Delhi (PTI): A group of Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers staged a brief protest at an exhibition hall of the AI Impact Summit and raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, before being whisked away by the security personnel.
A senior police officer said that around 10 people were detained when they were protesting at the AI Summit.
"They were removed immediately and were taken to Tilak Marg police station. No one will be allowed to breach law and order situation," the officer said.
The protesters marched inside Hall No 5, wearing or holding white T-shirts with images of Prime Minister Modi and US President Donald Trump printed on them along with slogans such as "India US Trade Deal", "Epstein Files" and "PM is compromised", soon resulting in a commotion.
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The ensuing melee witnessed heated exchanges between some of the attendees of the mega event and a few protesters.
While the protesters carried no party flags or any symbols to suggest they had any political affiliation, one of them claimed that he was "from the Indian Youth Congress".
A Delhi Police personnel on duty said they are going to heighten security inside the halls after the "unfortunate episode".
The protest, which lasted a few minutes before the group was bundled out of the hall, caught the guests and other visitors by surprise, many of whom watched the unfolding scenes in disbelief, given the significance of the AI Summit that India is hosting.
The AI Impact Summit is being held from February 16-20 at Bharat Mandapam, in which several heads of state, many global AI leaders, academicians and researchers, and heads of global tech giants, and philanthropists are taking part.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the AI Impact Summit 2026 here on Thursday, in the presence of several world leaders and heads of global tech giants.
As the protesters marched out of the hall and towards the lobby and stood against a massive backdrop mounted there shouting the "PM is compromised", a guest carrying an authenticated entry badge told them that it is they "who were compromised" as this episode "tarnished the image of India". The guest urged security personnel to whisk them away from the venue.
A student from Ludhiana, who visited the Impact Arena at the summit venue on Friday, said general visitors have to register online from the summit website and a QR code comes on the e-mail, which carries the name and identity of their organisation or institution, and this QR code is used to enter the premises at Bharat Mandapam.
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Mule bank accounts frozen in crackdown on cyber fraudsters in Karnataka, 68 held
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka State Cyber Command has arrested 68 people as part of a statewide drive against mule bank accounts and “mule herders” involved in cyber fraud, officials said on Friday.
The special operations, which have been continuing since last week across Karnataka, targeted networks engaged in aggregating and selling mule bank accounts used for cyber crimes.
The arrests were made between December 2025 and February 2026, police said in an updated report.
“The Karnataka Cyber Command has conducted statewide special operations against Mule accounts and mule herders across Karnataka. The special drive has continued since last week and this is an updated report,” the department said in a statement.
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Police said the investigation identified a network of “mule herders” — individuals who aggregate and misuse mule bank accounts — who were retailing and selling such accounts to cyber criminals.
A total of 68 key accused and suspects have been arrested during the period.
According to the statement, mule herders had collected personal information and documents from unsuspecting laypersons and opened multiple bank accounts in the names of their relatives.
“These accounts were operated in a business-like manner,” it added.
As part of the crackdown, police registered 60 cases and identified 869 mule accounts across the state. As many as 8,788 complaints were registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) against the identified mule accounts.
The total money involved in all NCRP-linked crimes stood at Rs 85.05 crore, of which Rs 13.43 crore has been put on hold, the Cyber Command said.
During the drive, police obtained 32 search warrants and conducted 35 searches. In the searches, 35 ATM cards, 37 passbooks, 80 mobile phones, 28 cheque books and 22 SIM cards were seized, along with other incriminating materials, officials said. Pronab Mohanty, the Director General of Police (Karnataka State Cyber Command) supervised the special drive, police added.
