A Mumbai protest at August Kranti Maidan was met with heavy police deployment, barricading and detentions on Saturday, preventing most demonstrators from reaching the venue and disrupting movement along Gowalia Tank Road. The action came as people gathered in solidarity with ongoing demonstrations in Delhi.
According to a report by Mid-Day, police sealed August Kranti Maidan ahead of a scheduled 3.30 pm gathering and barricaded access from all four sides. Gowalia Tank Road was closed to traffic, while access to the nearby skywalk was also restricted. Only residents were allowed to pass through the road, the report said.
Despite the restrictions, slogans continued to be raised in the Nana Chowk area. Protestors were heard shouting slogans including “Inquilab Zindabad” and other slogans directed at the Prime Minister and the police. Several demonstrators were detained as officers moved to disperse the gathering.
The report said some protestors attempted to avoid detention by running into nearby buildings. Police officers followed them and brought them out, after which they were taken to police vans. Demonstrators continued raising slogans during the detentions, including while being moved into the vehicles.
Tensions also emerged between women protestors and women police personnel. According to Mid-Day, some female demonstrators objected to being touched during detention and argued with the officers. Protestors alleged that police personnel had detained them forcefully, including women, raising questions about how the city police handled the gathering.
The restrictions affected both access to the protest site and local movement around Nana Chowk and Gowalia Tank Road. With the Maidan sealed and the road closed, the gathering shifted from the designated public space to surrounding streets, where the police action and detentions took place.
Mridula Shankar, identified by Mid-Day as a protestor, said the police response had been “heavyhanded” and resembled the policing seen during demonstrations in Delhi. Her account was published in the context of the confrontation between protestors and police personnel.
The incident places August Kranti Maidan, a recognised public gathering space in south Mumbai, at the centre of a dispute over access, policing and the management of demonstrations. The reported road closure and skywalk restrictions also meant that the response extended beyond the Maidan to nearby transport and pedestrian routes.
The Mid-Day report did not include a police statement explaining the reason for sealing the Maidan, the legal basis for the detentions, the number of people taken into custody or whether any cases had been registered. It also did not establish whether the restrictions would continue after Saturday’s gathering.
