Pune police detained 88 protesters near Shaniwar Wada on October 10 after a gathering against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process and the Election Commission of India disrupted traffic in the area. The protesters had assembled despite police denying permission for a planned rally from Shaniwar Wada to the Pune Collector’s Office.
According to DCP PR Patil of Pune City Police, several organisations, including CJP, had sought permission to organise the rally. Police denied the request citing law-and-order concerns and the need to maintain public peace.
Some protesters nevertheless gathered on the road near Shaniwar Wada on Saturday afternoon. The gathering affected traffic movement in the area, following which police detained 88 people and took them to Lashkar Police Station.
The proposed rally was intended to register opposition to the SIR process and the Election Commission. The report did not specify the organisations’ detailed objections to the revision exercise or provide further details about the route management arrangements around Shaniwar Wada during the gathering.
DCP Patil said that the parents of some of the detained youths had arrived at the police station. The process of handing over those youths to their parents was under way, while further action against the remaining protesters was being taken according to law.
The incident places central Pune’s busy heritage and administrative area at the intersection of public protest, traffic management and police permission procedures. The immediate official response focused on preventing a gathering for which permission had been denied, restoring movement on the affected road and determining the next legal steps for those detained.
Police did not announce a revised permission for the rally or provide details of any further public assembly in the area. The handover of some detained youths to their parents and the legal action involving the remaining protesters were the next steps identified by the police.
