Security restrictions and barricades in central Delhi prevented protesters from reaching Jantar Mantar on Saturday, pushing demonstrations towards Dilli Haat-INA and other locations while also restricting journalists’ movement through Connaught Place, Janpath and Parliament Street.
The Cockroach Janata Party, student groups and Left organisations had sought the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the rollback of the Special Intensive Revision. Police had denied permission for the demonstration at Jantar Mantar, according to the report.
After the restrictions were imposed, All India Students’ Association national president Neha Bora and other activists mobilised from Jor Bagh towards Dilli Haat-INA. Bora, along with psephologist Yogendra Yadav, lawyer Prashant Bhushan and CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, led the gathering. Bora later wrote on social media that she was in detention but that the movement continued, and urged supporters to assemble near Safdarjung Flyover and Sri Aurobindo Marg.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were intercepted and detained after arriving, the report said. Danish, an AISA joint secretary, alleged that police lathi-charged students, misbehaved with women protesters and dragged some of them by their hair before detaining them. He also alleged that officers did not tell detainees where they were being taken. These allegations were not independently verified.
Around 30 to 50 protesters took shelter inside Bangla Sahib as movement near Jantar Mantar was restricted. Some protesters alleged that they had been taken 20 to 50 kilometres away and released, making it difficult for them to regroup. Sarika, a research scholar who declined to identify her institution, said protesters had sought to demonstrate rather than be detained and alleged that police and Central Reserve Police Force personnel chased people towards the gurdwara.
Other protesters also questioned the restrictions. Jitender Kumar, 24, from Uttar Pradesh, questioned the deployment of police against demonstrators. Sumit, from Rohtak, alleged that protesters had been moved away to prevent them from assembling. Nikhil, a government employee, sought accountability over alleged irregularities in elections.
The restrictions also affected journalists attempting to reach the protest locations. Reporters from several news organisations said they were stopped despite carrying media identification. A journalist with Informist Media said she was stopped while travelling from Mandi House towards Connaught Place and directed towards India Gate. A Delhi Police head constable reportedly said the identification card shown was not valid for passage.
A senior police official said the government’s guidelines should have been stricter because not every journalist carried a Press Information Bureau card. The reported incidents have raised questions over how guidelines on valid media identification were being implemented during security restrictions in central Delhi.
Delhi Police had not commented on the allegations at the time of reporting. The immediate next step is the police response to the claims concerning detentions, treatment of protesters and the movement of journalists through the restricted areas.
