The Gurgaon police have told the Supreme Court that an engineer played an “active role” in the April 9 violence at Richa Global Exports at IMT Manesar and conspired to provoke workers to attack company staff and the police “with the intention to kill”.According to a status report filed by Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Lalit Dalal, the complicity of engineer Aditya Anand, 27, was established through electronic evidence.The affidavit, filed in the top court on Friday, notes that “the cell phone location of the phone used by… Aditya, was found to be in the vicinity of the place of occurrence at the time of occurrence.”Anand, who was already in judicial custody at the District Jail in Luksar, Gautam Buddh Nagar, in connection with a labour unrest in Noida, was brought to Gurgaon on a production warrant.On June 5, with the prior permission of the area magistrate, he joined the investigation within the court premises, was arrested, and interrogated before his custody was handed back to the Uttar Pradesh Police.In detailing his alleged role, the police submitted to the Supreme Court that Anand’s name surfaced in the disclosure statement of co-accused Akash.“Investigation had revealed that a criminal conspiracy was hatched and the accused persons had used WhatsApp group in the name of Union Richa Global 407 to provoke the workers to continue protest, keep bags filled with stones, attack on company employees and police officials with intention to kill, spreading WhatsApp massage to arson in front of company,” the police stated.‘Framed for association with Mazdoor Bigul’Story continues below this adHowever, Anand, a Java developer at Genpact with a B Tech from NIT Jamshedpur, strongly refuted the police’s claims in his disclosure statement, which was annexed to the same affidavit. Throughout the interrogation with the Manesar Crime Branch, he denied any involvement, instead alleging coercion and framing by the investigating officers.Responding to questions during his June 5 interrogation regarding his presence at the Manesar site on April 9, Anand stated, “I don’t remember exactly where I was but I was not part of any protest in Manesar.”He further stated, “I was not part of any such activity. Police is framing me in the entire case just because I am associated with Mazdoor Bigul.”When confronted with the police claim that co-accused Akash had named him, Anand maintained his innocence and pointed to forced confessions. “I think police is framing me in this case. I don’t know any Akash in Manesar. I think he is forced by police to take my name,” he said in his statement.Story continues below this adSignificantly, Anand leveled specific allegations of police intimidation during his interrogation. When asked what he had to say about being questioned under CCTV surveillance with his lawyer present, he stated: “ASI Rajesh came to ask questions, the same ASI who threatened me on 30th April when I was in PCR to accept these allegations. I think they want to frame me falsely in this case.”The status report was filed in response to a plea moved by Anand’s brother. The petition approaches the Supreme Court alleging “inhumane torture and gross violation of the right to life and liberty” of two labour activists, Aditya Anand and Rupesh.The FIR in the case was registered on April 9 at the Sector 7 IMT Manesar police station based on a complaint by Ramvir Singh, an AGM (HR) at Richa Global Exports. The complaint alleged that protesting workers from three branches, demanding salary hikes, turned violent, pelting stones at managerial staff and the police, and setting vehicles on fire, including an Ertiga, a TATA bus, and a motorcycle. The workers also allegedly assaulted two women employees and damaged machinery across plots in Sector 4 and Sector 7, IMT Manesar.In his disclosure statement, Anand maintained that his background in activism was limited. He stated he joined ‘Bigul Mazdoor Dasta’ through social media in 2023 because he enjoyed the organisation’s articles on the rights of ordinary people, and spent his weekends teaching children at the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Library in Kulesara.