Days before a mass protest in Delhi demanding the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, student groups, political activists and civil society leaders have alleged a series of police actions in several states. They include an attempt to remove students from a train, the alleged assault and detention of a Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leader in Rajasthan, and restrictions on activists in Mumbai. The allegations are untested, and the police’s response to most of them was not available in the reports reviewed.
Students stopped on the Goa Express
The All India Students’ Federation (AISF) said police tried to forcibly detain its student delegation travelling from Pune to Delhi on the 12779 Goa Express. According to AISF Pune district convener Shravani, a group of 8 to 10 police personnel boarded the train at Bhusawal and tried to deboard the students without detention warrants or a legal basis. The students refused, and the delegation stayed on the train. AISF said the train was running over seven hours late and had been diverted through Uttar Pradesh and linked the intervention to the students’ travel for the protest.
AISF has since said that around 22 female students from its delegation, who were travelling from Pune to Delhi, were detained by Madhya Pradesh Police at Itarsi and taken to a hotel. A video shared by AISF Pune district convener Shravani shows the students in a room with their bags. The grounds for the detention were not specified, and Madhya Pradesh Police’s response was not available.
CJP leader taken from his home
The most serious allegation concerns Deepak Baliyan, CJP’s national organisation co-incharge. According to his family’s account, police first arrived at his home in Mankheda village, Alwar district, on Thursday, October 8, saying the local station house officer had summoned him. Baliyan livestreamed the police presence on Instagram, after which the personnel left. They allegedly returned, demanded he delete the video, and took him away when he refused.
CJP alleges Baliyan was dragged despite a fractured leg, that his brother was hit on the head, and that his mother was pushed when she tried to stop the police. The party says his phone was destroyed. Co-convener Ashutosh Ranka said Baliyan was released late that night after what he called a 100-kilometre ride.
Volunteers detained at Bhopal
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke alleged that Madhya Pradesh Police detained CJP volunteers from Telangana at Bhopal while they travelled by train. The number detained and their custody status were not specified.
Mumbai activists told to stay in the city
The Hindu reported that Mumbai Police detained activists Feroze Mithiborwala and Salim Saboowala at around 11 am on Thursday and released them on the condition that they stay in Mumbai. Guddi L., a convenor of Hum Bharat Ke Log, a civil society group led by Tushar Gandhi, said neither planned to travel to Delhi. “How can police detain?” she asked.
Police at SFI’s Delhi office
The Students’ Federation of India said Delhi Police personnel carrying lathis went to HKS Surjeet Bhawan, where its Central Executive Committee office is located, searching for activists and trying to collect details of those travelling to Delhi. SFI said it would join the protest in large numbers.
Delhi prepares for the October 10 protest
The Delhi government has ordered retail liquor shops closed on October 9 and 10 as a preventive measure. Dipke told reporters that CJP is ready for detention or arrest, and that the details of the protest will be kept a surprise. it has further been claimed that at least 10,000 people had been detained nationwide ahead of the demonstration. That figure comes from the party and has not been confirmed.
The question for October 10
A week ago, Delhi Police detained hundreds of protesters near Jantar Mantar, imposed Section 163 across New Delhi and closed 11 metro stations. Now, before the next protest has begun, organisers allege that students were pulled off trains, a spokesperson was taken from his home, and activists with no plans to travel were told to stay in their city. Police have not said what threat these measures were meant to prevent. A demand for an official’s resignation is a political demand, and a democracy does not need to detain anyone to hear it.
