At least 14 students travelling from Pune to Delhi for a protest were detained by the Madhya Pradesh Government Railway Police at Itarsi on Friday after they were removed from the Goa Express, according to members of the student groups involved. The Madhya Pradesh High Court has since directed the authorities to produce the students before it by October 13 and make arrangements for their safe return to their families.
The students were reportedly members of the All India Students Federation, the New Students and Youth Federation and the Resist, Reclaim, Rebuild campaign. They were travelling to attend a protest called by the Cockroach Janta Party at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Saturday. The protest is seeking the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
According to AISF members, around 25 to 30 students boarded the Goa Express at Pune Railway Station at approximately 4.30 am on Friday. Advocate Namokar More, who was travelling in another coach, told The Indian Express that two women personnel in civilian clothes entered the students’ coach after one of the students posted on Instagram that the group was travelling to Delhi. More said the personnel appeared to identify the students and establish that they were headed to the protest.
More alleged that the personnel first attempted to make the students get off the train at Bhusawal. The students resisted what they described as an illegal arrest, after which the GRP detained them at Itarsi, he said. The students were subsequently taken to a premises identified as The Park Club and Resort.
AISF member Azharuddin Shaikh said another group from the same contingent was travelling in a different coach and reached Delhi without being noticed. Shaikh, who had reached Delhi on Thursday, also alleged that police were checking hotels near Jantar Mantar to locate protesters. These claims were made by members of the student organisations and were reported by The Indian Express.
The detained students’ legal team approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court with a habeas corpus petition filed by family members. The petition sought the production of the students, amid concerns that they could be moved from the resort to another location. AISF state committee member Advocate Prerna Singanjude was among those who spoke about the case.
On Friday, the High Court issued notices to the State and police authorities and ordered that the students be produced before it on or before October 13. It also directed the authorities to arrange for their safe return to their families. The report did not include a detailed response from the Madhya Pradesh police or the Home Ministry to the allegations made by the students’ organisations.
Videos showing police personnel removing students from the train circulated on social media. The Cockroach Janta Party alleged on X that people were being detained or arrested before the protest had begun, while the AISF said the detentions would not silence its members. The court-ordered production of the students by October 13 is the next formal development in the case.
