Mumbai Police detained around 600 people on Saturday as security was tightened around a planned solidarity protest at August Kranti Maidan, with activists, political workers and public figures among those taken to police stations. The action came ahead of a demonstration supporting the Cockroach Janata Party’s protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in New Delhi.
Those detained included Shiv Sena UBT MLA Varun Sardesai, Kasturi Gandhi, Tushar Gandhi, Feroze Mithiborwala, actor Imran Khan and several activists and protesters. Police also detained workers of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi after a separate demonstration at Hutatma Chowk. The gathering at August Kranti Maidan had been planned for 3.30 pm.
Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and head of the civil society organisation Hum Bharat Ke Log, was picked up in Bandra while travelling towards the maidan, according to a police officer. He was taken to DN Nagar police station. Gandhi said on social media that he had been arrested, while police maintained that he had been detained. Shiv Sena UBT leader Aaditya Thackeray later reached the police station in support of him.
Mithiborwala was picked up from his residence and taken to MIDC police station, according to the report. Activists alleged that police had contacted and questioned people associated with the planned gathering in the days before the demonstration. Several protesters, including senior citizens, were detained near August Kranti Maidan and taken to Gamdevi police station amid heavy barricading around the venue.
Some protesters alleged that they were dragged into police vans and jeeps. Local residents were also stopped or questioned while attempting to enter the area. Arun Kumar, a resident, said he was returning from work and wanted to go home but was stopped by police. He was allowed to proceed after family members came downstairs and established that he lived there.
Advocate Samya Korde of the Bombay High Court was also among those detained. Nishant Bangera, a social worker who was detained, alleged that several people, including minor girls, were being held at Gamdevi police station until their parents arrived. He also claimed that police had confiscated some protesters’ phones and had not returned them. These allegations were reported by Mid-Day and were not independently confirmed in the supplied account.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, South Zone 2, Ragasudha R, said no application seeking permission for the August Kranti Maidan protest had been submitted to Gamdevi police station. Senior police officers also said the maidan was not a designated protest venue, citing a Bombay High Court order. The police position on permission and the venue formed the stated basis for the restrictions as the planned solidarity demonstrations approached.
