Mumbai Police detained actor Imran Khan and several others near Nana Chowk in south Mumbai on Saturday while they were protesting in solidarity with a Cockroach Janata Party demonstration in New Delhi, according to officials cited by the Times of India.
The protesters were detained near the Nana Chowk junction in Gamdevi, close to Grant Road railway station. Police personnel placed them in vans and took them away, while additional police vehicles were brought to the area to transport those detained.
Security restrictions also affected access to August Kranti Maidan. Roads leading to the ground were closed and barricades were erected, while the maidan remained shut from the morning. Police vans and dozens of personnel were stationed outside its gates, and members of the public were not allowed to approach the entrance.
Hundreds of police personnel, including women officers and members of the Maharashtra State Security Corporation, were deployed in and around the area. Personnel from the nearby police station were called in to support the arrangements, with a zonal deputy commissioner of police and an additional police commissioner present at the site.
The deployment affected movement beyond the protest location. Police stopped passersby and questioned them about their destinations, with some residents expressing displeasure over being stopped and questioned. The restrictions were concentrated around Nana Chowk, Gamdevi and the approaches to August Kranti Maidan, an area connected to Grant Road railway station and important south Mumbai roads.
The incident illustrates how security measures around a public gathering can quickly extend into surrounding streets and affect ordinary movement. The reported deployment included multiple police units, security personnel and transport vans, while barricading prevented access to the maidan and roads leading towards it.
The Times of India report did not provide details of any charges against those detained, the number of people taken into custody or the duration of the restrictions. Mumbai Police officials had not, in the supplied report, stated when access to the maidan and affected roads would be restored.
