Over 700 protesters detained in Delhi as protests against CEC Gyanesh Kumar continue

Student groups including AISA, SFI and NSUI held separate demonstrations, with hundreds detained from Connaught Place and other locations.

More than 700 people have been detained across Delhi, according to an officer at the Delhi Police headquarters, as protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar continued for a second consecutive day over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Security personnel detain demonstrators during a protest near Jantar Mantar on Sunday. (Vipin Kumar/HT)

Through the day, police personnel remained deployed in heavy numbers in the city, particularly central Delhi, at the border and across the Capital in general. As sporadic protests developed, police officials were seen pulling, pushing, and dragging demonstrators into buses and vans deployed for this purpose.

Student Groups and Protest Marches

The first detentions were made around 11am and noon near Palika Bazaar in Connaught Place, where police picked up over 20-30 members of the All India Youth Federation.

AISA called a march at 2.30pm from RK Ashram Marg. Despite heavy deployment, several group members, including president Neha Bora, managed to enter CP. From there, over 100 people were detained around 3pm.

At the same time, nearly 3km away, nearly 70-100 activists of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) were detained from outside the Press Club of India, where they tried to stage a sit-in protest.

Between 4-7 pm, hundreds of people who tried to stage marches and protests in CP were also detained.

Hundreds were then detained from other left-leaning student organisations, including the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and All India Students’ Association (AISA).

Releases and Allegations of Assault

Police took the detainees to Chhatrasal Stadium, Najafgarh, Pandwalan Khurd and other areas. A number of them had been released within 5-7 hours.

The Delhi Police PRO has not responded to queries.

Detainees at Pandwalan Khurd alleged that they were beaten up by police. One of them, Arjun, said he was detained from CP and taken to Pandwalan Khurd, where they were made to stand in line and then beaten. “The torture continued as they took us to the ground. One protester with me had his hand fractured. My t-shirt got torn. One had injuries on his hand. We kept asking for our phones back....We were released after 9.30 pm.”

A few protesters shared photos and videos from the ground at Pandwalan Khurd, showing one protester with a torn T-shirt and others clashing with police while trying to retrieve their phones.

The DCP did not respond to further queries regarding the alleged assault and the phones.

By HT’s own count at least 12 journalists from national news organisations were also detained despite carrying identification. CPI(M) MP John Brittas said he was severely injured as police dragged and assaulted him. Along with him, two to three other CPIM members were also detained around 1 pm from CP.

Earlier Detentions and Restrictions

This comes a day after over 7,000 people, including three ex-chief ministers were detained ahead of a planned protest led by the Cockroach Janta Party. Police on Sunday registered more than 20 first information reports (FIRs) “in connection with alleged attacks on police personnel during the demonstrations, with police citing attempts to disrupt law and order and obstruct government officials from performing their duties”, a senior officer said.

Delhi Police have invoked prohibitory restrictions under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), stating that unauthorised gatherings would invite legal action.