CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas alleged that Delhi Police and Central Reserve Police Force personnel manhandled him while he was travelling to a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Sunday, claiming he was forcibly taken to a police bus despite identifying himself as a Member of Parliament.
Brittas told reporters that he was on his way to attend a protest called by CJP against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar when police and CRPF personnel picked him up. According to his account, he was forcibly carried to a waiting police bus and pushed into a seat while repeatedly asking the personnel not to touch him.
The MP later said he and another man were pushed and pinned into their seats inside the bus, leaving them struggling to breathe. He was subsequently seen sitting on a footpath after being removed from the vehicle.
Brittas claimed that a deputy commissioner of police in the police control room witnessed what had happened and contacted officers inside the bus. The DCP, he said, instructed them to release him after being told that he was an MP. Brittas further alleged that police personnel pushed him out of the bus and placed him in an auto-rickshaw but did not accompany him.
Sajid Hussain, who identified himself as another person held inside the bus, told reporters that the police behaved poorly towards Brittas. The account provided by the MP and Hussain describes the incident as taking place during police action linked to the protest at Jantar Mantar, a designated site for public demonstrations in the national capital.
Brittas said he had gone to the location after hearing that student activists involved in the protest had been picked up by police. He also questioned the treatment of ordinary citizens, saying that if such conduct could occur despite his status as a Member of Parliament and his claim that he had not violated any law, the situation faced by members of the public could be more difficult.
The supplied report does not include a response from Delhi Police or the CRPF to the allegations. It also does not establish whether any formal complaint, medical examination or inquiry had been initiated by the time Brittas spoke to reporters.
