Photo: Firoze Edassery / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Delhi Police kept detaining protesters around Connaught Place on Sunday, October 11, as groups returned for a second day of demonstrations against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, even after the Supreme Court ordered that peaceful, unarmed protesters could not be held except through the procedure established by law. Among those taken away was CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas, who later alleged that security personnel assaulted him inside a vehicle.
Buses at Connaught Place
About 100 protesters were loaded into two buses and driven out of the area, and several empty buses stood by as the crowd grew, according to reports from the spot. At least four journalists were briefly detained at RK Ashram and then let go. In one video, a man was pulled out of a burger outlet on suspicion of being a protester before police released him.
Earlier in the day, a special bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana had directed that metro and rail services run normally, internet access stay undisturbed, free movement be restored and lawyers and journalists be allowed to do their work.
Brittas says he was choked in a van
Video footage showed Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel dragging Mr Brittas away while he was speaking to reporters, as he repeatedly told them he was an MP. He said he was later left at the roadside.
Although I told them I am an MP, the CRPF personnel continued to attack me. They pinned me to the seat and tried to choke me.
John Brittas, CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP
The CPI(M) posted a video of Mr Brittas struggling to get up beside a police bus and said Delhi Police had “crossed all limits”. The party later said he had been admitted to RML Hospital, where general secretary M.A. Baby and MP A.A. Rahim visited him. How and where he was hurt has not been independently established. The Students’ Federation of India said its national president Adarsh M. Saji and other activists were beaten inside police vans. No response from Delhi Police or the CRPF to these allegations had been reported.
20 FIRs over Saturday’s protest
Officials said Delhi Police have registered 20 FIRs linked to Saturday’s protest, with charges including assault on police personnel and obstructing public servants. One case, at Kamla Market police station, led to the arrest of four men claiming links to the right-wing Hindu Raksha Dal, who are accused of attacking students and manhandling women protesters.
More than 7,000 people were detained on Saturday as police blocked routes to Jantar Mantar. Officials said over 15 police personnel were injured in stone-throwing, among them DCP (South) Anant Mittal, who hurt his hand.
What comes next
The protests were called by the Cockroach Janta Party and Left student groups, who want Mr Kumar to resign over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls. Ratna Singh, the CJP’s legal affairs head, said the fact that the matter had to go to the Supreme Court was telling. Opposition parties led by the Congress have called a larger march in the capital on Monday.
