'Mumbai Police Detained Me Even Before the Protest, Then Showed Up at My Home'

'We hadn’t even chanted a single slogan. We hadn’t even participated in anything,' writes Aagaz Akhtar.

Aagaz Akhtar was detained by Mumbai Police on 21 July even before the protest began. 

(Photo Courtesy: Aagaz Akhtar)

Whatever is happening in our country is deeply disturbing. Every time I see people being beaten up or being silenced for merely raising their voices, it boils my blood.

For days, I had been speaking up online against what I believe is injustice. But I realise that posting on social media is not enough, and I wanted to be there in person.

I found out about a protest being organised at Shivaji Park in Mumbai's Dadar on 21 July. The night before, it was very hard for me to sleep. I was restless—and just wanted to be there the next morning. At the same time, we were hearing that the protest didn’t have permission, and anyone attending should be prepared for possible consequences.

'Picked Up by Police Before the Protest Started'

I had made up my mind already. I reached almost 30 minutes before the scheduled time because I expected a huge crowd—and wanted to find safe parking. I parked my car half a kilometre away and walked towards Shivaji Park.

When I arrived, the ground was nearly empty, so I sat down on a bench. Within a few minutes, a handful of people started arriving. Coincidentally, I met two of my friends there. So, since the protest was yet to start, we thought, let's take a walk and explore the area.

We were just walking on the road next to the ground when we saw 8-10 police officers standing a little ahead of us. From their body language, I felt that 'rukaayenge humein' [they will stop us]. Even then, we kept walking because we hadn’t done anything wrong. There was no reason to avoid them.

The moment we were walking past them, they stopped us and started questioning us.

'Where are you from?'

'Why are you here?'

'Kya kar rahe ho yahan pe?' [What are you doing here?]

'Kyun aaye ho?' (Why have you come?)

Within just a short time, one senior officer got very aggressive. He said, 'Mujhe pata hai tum yahan pe kyun aaye ho.' (I know why you've come here.) Then he grabbed me by my collar and pulled me inside a police chowki.

I was constantly trying to calm him down, saying, 'Sir, we were just walking. Aap kyun kheech rahe ho? Kyun band kar rahe ho? Aap acche se baat karo.' [Why are you pulling us? Why are you shutting this down? Please talk to us in a proper manner.]

At that point, we hadn’t even chanted a single slogan. We hadn’t even participated in any protest.

Right then, another officer charged towards my friend. I started recording a video, but they were constantly trying to snatch my phone. They managed to snatch my friend’s phone, but when they tried to snatch mine, I told them, 'Mere family ko bhi allowed nahi hai mera phone touch karna. Aapko bilkul nahi dunga.' [My family is also not allowed to touch my phone. I won't give it to you.]

I then put my phone in my underwear, so they let me keep it.

'You Have Come Here to Spread Ruckus'

We were repeatedly told to sit down, stay quiet, and not make any phone calls. The police officers kept saying that we had come to create trouble there.

'Tum log ruckus phailane aaye ho. Tum log kuch bhi karoge. Kaun zimmedar hai?' [You people have come here to spread ruckus. You all will do anything. Who will be responsible?]

One of them told me that they already knew that people were coordinating through WhatsApp groups, and even showed me messages on his phone, saying those same messages had reached the police as well. He also told me, 'Aap log ko jo log bulaate hain woh log hamaare side se hote hain. Aap log ko maalum nahi hai.' [The people that call you are from our side. You all don't know.]

After some time, my friends were sent to Worli Police Station. By then, the officer's tone completely changed, and he spoke to me for about half an hour.

I asked him, 'Sir, aapka beta bhi hoga toh aap aisa hi karoge? Aise badtameezi karoge uske saath?' [Sir, if this was your son, would you do the same? Would you behave like this with him?]

He replied, 'Kabhi kabhi kaam aise hi nikalna padta hai.' [Sometimes you have to get your work done somehow.]

I also asked him for his opinion about what was happening in Delhi, but he tried to change the topic. When I asked whether permission for the protest had been requested, he told me nobody had asked for it. 'Agar aap log ne maangi hoti toh humne di hoti. Aap logo ne maangi hi nahi hai.' [If you had asked us for permission, we would have given it. You all didn't ask at all.]

I said, 'Sir, maangi thi.' (Sir, we asked.)

He said, 'Nahi, maangi hi nahi.' (No, you didn't.)

Later, three police officers escorted me to Worli Police Station in a private vehicle. When I reached there, I saw already 20 students were there, including my friends. After an hour, I saw that 30 other students came in and were kept separately.

I told them that I’m an actor. 'Sir, I’ve been on a reality show and you can see the same online.' So they clicked selfies with me. One officer jokingly showed my fitness pictures to another officer. So, the atmosphere relaxed. Around 7:30 pm, after they had recorded our details and took our Aadhaar card, we were allowed to leave.

I genuinely thought the ordeal had ended. I didn't know the next day would bring an even bigger problem.

Aagaz Akhtar with other detainees at the Worli Police Station.

(Photo Courtesy: Aagaz Akhtar)

'Within 5 Minutes, They Knocked at My Door'

On 22 July, I started receiving multiple phone calls from the police at Goregaon Police Station. At the time, I was driving to meet a school friend who had just come from Dubai. So, I informed the officer, 'Sir, main Bombay mein nahi hu, main baahar hu.' [Sir, I'm not in Bombay. I'm out of town.]

He said, 'Kab aaoge?' [When will you come back?]

I said, 'Kal aaunga.' [I'll come tomorrow.]

He said, 'Accha theek hai... aaoge to mil lo.' [Alright, that's fine. Come and meet us when you're back.]

He then asked me for my address, and I told him I’d shared it yesterday at the police station. He said, 'Batao waapis' [Tell me again]. So, I told him again.

Within roughly five minutes, they knocked at my door.

I couldn't understand why, when I had just spoken to them, they reached my house. The moment they entered, they asked, ''Aagaz' kaha hai? Usko bulaao.' [Where is Aagaz? Call him.]

My family was in shock. My mom later told me later, 'Sab log puch rahe the tere baare mein, ki police kyu aayi hai.' [Everyone was asking about you, asking why the police had come and what all this was about.]

I just said that they wanted to scare us, 'taaki agle baar hum kahi jaaye nahi' [So that next time we don't go anywhere].

Aagaz Akhtar at the Worli Police Station.

 (Photo Courtesy: Aagaz Akhtar)

Over the phone, I reminded the officer that I had just spoken to him. He said, 'Koi nahi, kal aajao aap.' [It's okay. Just come tomorrow.]

Later that evening, another police officer called from Goregaon Police Station. He again took my address, and asked me if I was from a political party.

I said, 'No, I’m an actor.'

He said, 'Tension ki koi baat nahi hai fir.' [Then there's nothing to worry about.]

I said, 'Phir aap ghar kyun aaye the, jab maine baat ki thi dusre police officer se ki main kal aane waala hu?' [Then why did you come to my house when I had already spoken to the other police officer and told him I would come tomorrow?].

He repeated, 'It's okay. Come tomorrow.'

I’m not a student. In fact, there’s no one who's studying in my house. We’re all artists in the film industry. But I’m also someone who believes that when I see injustice, I cannot stay silent or stand by and watch.

We understand that speaking up can come with consequences. Even if they will try to suppress our voices, I've made up my mind. They don’t know yet but they’ll soon see me at Jantar Mantar.

Mumbai Police's Response

The Quint reached out to both Worli and Goregaon Police Stations.

"We had gone for basic inquiry and tell him to come to the police station. He didn't come to the police station but the others who came the next day, we told them that if they want to protest, they have to take permission and do it. We did not say anything else," an officer at Goregaon Police Station told The Quint.

When asked him why was there a need to go to the author's home, he said, "Aisa kuch nahi hain, bus inquiry karne gaye the aur samjhane gaye the, ki yeh sab permission leke karna padta hain aur shaanti se. [There's nothing like that. We just went to inquire and explain to him that any protest should be done with permission as well as peacefully.]"

This article will be updated with a response from Worldi Police Station as and when they revert.

(All 'My Report' branded stories are submitted by citizen journalists to The Quint. Though The Quint inquires into the claims/allegations from all parties before publishing, the report and the views expressed above are the citizen journalist's own. The Quint neither endorses, nor is responsible for the same.)