A Special Task Force of the Noida Police on Saturday (18th April) arrested one Aditya Anand, who is accused of orchestrating the April 13 workers’ violent protest in Noida, from Tiruchirappalli railway station in Tamil Nadu. A joint team of the Gautam Buddh Nagar Police Commissionerate and the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) made the arrest. The police traced Anand, who had a reward of ₹1 lakh on him, through electronic surveillance and intelligence inputs. The accused reportedly admitted his role in the workers’ protest within hours of arrest.
According to reports, Anand had been evading arrest by frequently changing his location since a non-bailable warrant was issued against him. The police have been trying to track him by carrying out raids across multiple states. According to police, Anand, a software engineer, plotted to turn the entire workers’ protest into a violent movement. He organised provocative activities and executed the events in a systematic and pre-planned manner. An FIR was filed against him at the Noida Phase-2 police station under Sections 191(1) and (2) (Rioting), 115(2) (Voluntarily causing hurt), 121(1) and (2) (Voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt to deter a public servant from his duty), 351(3) (Criminal intimidation) 352 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) 61(2) (Criminal conspiracy) and Section 7 of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act.
A separate investigation has been launched by the Anti-Terrorism Squad into the violence after some handles on X, operating from Pakistan, posted fake videos about people dying during the protests.
Who is Aditya Anand?
Aditya Anand, who hails from Hazaribagh in Jharkhand, has a BTech degree from NIT Jamshedpur. He was placed as a software engineer at a private company in Noida through campus recruitment. He shifted to rented accommodation in Sector 37, Noida, in June 2025, and before that, he had been residing in Gurgaon.
In 2022, Anand reportedly came in contact with Mazdoor Bigul, a labour-focused organisation led by Anubhav Sinha, on Facebook. Later, he started reporting on factory workers’ conditions in the city. A year later, in 2023, he met Rupesh Roy and Manisha Chauhan, who are co-accused in the case relating to the Noida workers’ protest and were arrested on 11th April, during the Bhagat Singh Jan Adhikar Yatra organised by Mazdoor Bigul.
Over time, Anand got deeply involved in the organisation and took part in agitations across the country. Anand is also said to have links with Disha Student Organisation, RWPI and Naujavan Bharat Sabha.
