23 students held after clashes at India Gate pollution protest

A female police officer alleged that a protester handed a bottle to another demonstrator, who sprayed it in her eyes, causing a burning sensation.

The Delhi Police on Monday arrested 23 students and detained one more for allegedly blocking a road, obstructing police, and “using chilli spray” on security personnel during a protest at India Gate a day earlier.

Police personnel detaining protesters from the site on Monday. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

Most of those held are Delhi University students who had gathered at the C-Hexagon to protest rising air pollution under the banner of the Delhi Coordination Committee for Clean Air. Sunday’s demonstration escalated after a clash with police, and several students later protested outside Parliament Street police station, where more detentions followed.

Two FIRs have been registered. The first at Kartavya Path police station, names eight students, including the apprehended minor, under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including assault on women, voluntarily causing hurt, criminal conspiracy, obstructing public servants, and disobedience of lawful orders. Officers added that section 197 (Imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) were added in the case later on Monday evening.

According to the FIR, accessed by HT, police had deployed personnel with loudspeakers after learning from social media that groups such as AISA and JNU collectives planned to assemble near India Gate. Around 4.15pm, the FIR said, protestors gathered with banners, shouted slogans, and frightened visitors. When police asked them to disperse, they allegedly crossed barricades and moved towards the C-Hexagon. The FIR states they raised slogans in support of Madvi Hidma, a Naxal leader killed last month.

Police said the protestors “deliberately” ignored warnings, blocked traffic – including ambulances — and created a volatile situation. A female police officer alleged that a protester handed a bottle to another demonstrator, who sprayed it in her eyes, causing a burning sensation. “Another girl also sprayed it on me… All of them did this in collusion,” the FIR reads, adding that male protesters “molested and abused” female personnel.

DCP (New Delhi) Devesh Kumar Mahla said this was the first instance of pepper spray being used on police during such an agitation. “Several protesters scuffled with the police and many of our personnel were injured. They sprayed chilli and other substances to attack police,” he said. Some protesters fled during the scuffle, he added.

As police began detaining people, a group of students allegedly “gheraoed” Parliament Street police station. A second FIR was then filed against 16 students under sections relating to obstruction of public servants, hurt on provocation, wrongful restraint and common intent. A senior officer said police recovered five to six bottles of chilli spray.

Videos circulating online show officers dragging students and forcing them into police vehicles. In some clips, female students are seen arguing with male officers.

Students denied the allegations of chilli spray and accused the police of excessive force. A DU student, part of the WhatsApp group that coordinated the protest, said, “We saw no chilli spray bottles. One of my friends had to flee because male officers were grabbing female protesters and touching them inappropriately. We only wanted to protest, and now many of our members are in jail.”

Another student said protesters belonged to groups including Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch, Himkhand DISHA, AISA, SFI and others. “My female friend’s T-shirt was torn by a male official. They had no control. We only went to Parliament Street to get our friends out,” the student claimed.

The protest also prompted sharp political reactions. AAP Delhi chief Saurabh Bharadwaj posted an image of a police officer sitting on a protester, writing, “This is the public of Delhi, raising their voice against pollution, and the suffocating government climbing on top of them.” Delhi minister Kapil Mishra accused protesters of hiding behind environmental slogans to promote extremist ideology, alleging they shouted “Lal Salaam.”

Later in the day, a city court sent the 22 students to judicial custody. The order was passed on Monday by two judicial magistrates of Patiala House Courts – judicial magistrates Aridaman Singh Cheema and Sahil Monga. The order noted, “The allegations are serious and the matter is at an early stage of investigation. Identity verification of several accused persons is pending and digital/electronic evidence is yet to be examined. Considering their non-cooperation and the requirement of proper investigation, judicial custody is justified.

Police told the court that the accused persons came to the gate of Parliament Street Police Station and carried out a protest, raising aggressive slogans against the Delhi Police and the government. “…WhatsApp groups that were formed to organise the protest need to be analysed and the accused persons need to be confronted with other protestors who have not been detained to unearth the larger conspiracy behind the protest,” the police told the court.

Their remand plea said, “When police personnel attempted to disperse the protestors, the accused persons allegedly became violent, attacked the police staff and caused injuries… They were carrying posters in support of Madvi Hidma, and suspicion remains regarding their involvement in other unlawful activities.”

Meanwhile, counsels for the accused persons told the police that the accused were merely students aged between 19 to 21 years and were present at the protest to agitate against the rising air pollution in the capital. Advocate Amit Kumar, representing an accused, Prakash, said, “They are college students with no criminal antecedents… no conspiracy was being planned by them and sending them to police custody might endanger them”.

They also alleged custodial torture by the police before the court. The counsels requested that directions should be passed to police to preserve the CCTV footage from the spot of the incident. The accused persons told the court that they have filed separate complaints regarding the purported torture. However, no specific directions were passed by the court on this aspect.