Andrew Arrested, Gates Skips Delhi Meet But Epstein's Indian Chums Unaffected; US Playing Geopolitical Chess With AI, Wants India to Fall in Line; Sahyog Portal's Censorship Tools Laid Bare
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Snapshot of the day
February 19, 2026
Siddharth Varadarajan
The Epstein Files are drawing blood everywhere but India. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, younger brother of King Charles III and once eighth in line to the British throne, was arrested from his residence in Norfolk today on suspicion of misconduct in public office as part of an investigation into his dealings with the convicted American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He was interrogated for several hours before being allowed to go home. The unprecedented development marks a seismic moment for the British monarchy, as no senior member of the royal family has been placed under arrest in around 400 years. Charles I was arrested in 1647 during the English Civil War. He was executed two years later. Charles III is ringfencing the monarchy by saying “the law must take its course”. Apart from the allegations of pedophilia already levelled against him, Andrew is suspected of sharing confidential British trade policies with Epstein.
The spectre of Epstein may be haunting Britain and other countries but the government in India is behaving as if it is business as usual despite revelations of chumminess between the disgraced financier and a senior minister, Hardeep Puri, as well as Anil Ambani, a businessman who was once considered close to Narendra Modi. Modi, in fact, made it a point to publicly wish Puri on his birthday last week – a sharp contrast to the Thames Valley Police actually arresting the former prince on his birthday.
Puri has yet to express regret or apologise to Epstein’s victims for his networking and banter with the sex offender, nor has he provided a proper explanation regarding reports of “62 email exchanges” with Epstein between 2014 and 2017. The Congress has accused Puri of “lying,” and opposition parties have reiterated calls for his resignation [See Watch Out].
Also under scrutiny for his ties to Epstein, Bill Gates ultimately did not participate in the AI Impact Summit in Delhi, with a spokesperson from his Gates Foundation saying hours before his scheduled keynote address that
