Barricades Breached, Hundreds Held: How Anti-Gyanesh Protests Rocked Delhi
Multiple protests against CEC Gyanesh Kumar rocked Delhi with mass detentions, barricade breaches, and crackdown.
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Tear gas vans, ammunition, water cannon trucks, anti-riot vehicles, 5,000 cops in riot gear, hundreds detained – the national capital continued to look like a war zone on Sunday, 4 October, as thousands took to the streets to protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the alleged manhandling and harassment of female protesters and journalists by Delhi Police personnel during the protests since 2 October.
The protests in Delhi on Sunday involved the All India Students’ Association (AISA), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), All India Students’ Federation (AISF) and All India Youth Federation (AIYF), along with other student, youth and civil-society groups. CPI(M) and CPI leaders and cadres were also involved in the wider mobilisation. Sunday’s AISA-led march and the separate AAP protest at India Gate were part of the third consecutive day of demonstrations demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.
Multi-layered barricading was placed on routes towards Jantar Mantar, specifically around Tolstoy Marg, Janpath Road, Sansad Marg and the Kerala Bhawan side, with additional barricades near Ashoka Road and C-Hexagon.
Police and PCR vehicles were stationed on roads leading to Jantar Mantar, while CCTV feeds were being monitored from the DCP (New Delhi) office and drones were available for crowd monitoring. Personnel were also equipped with anti-riot gear.
Multiple Protests At Different Locations
The first group to get detained at India Gate included several AAP MLAs, including Saurabh Bhardwaj, who was injured as the police tried to detain him.
The groups led by Neha Bora and Yogendra Yadav, meanwhile, reached Ashoka Road near the roundabout opposite Shangri-La Eros Hotel, where they breached Delhi Police barricades, leading to a violent crackdown by the Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force.
While attempting to detain Bora, protesters physically blocked the police vehicle she was in, while many also climbed on top of it.
Several protesters were also seen escaping detention buses by breaking windows and emergency exits.
Neha Bora was taken to Narela Industrial Area Police Station, where she was later released. AISA said she had initially been picked up in an unmarked private vehicle and taken to an unknown location; police subsequently confirmed her release from the Narela Industrial Area station.
The protests and detentions continued for about five hours, with 5,000 personnel deployed on the ground by Delhi Police. There were also several journalists among those detained or who faced violence by the police.
Protests Against ACP Over Alleged Sexual Assault
Earlier in the day, supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party, led by co-convenor Saurav Das, continued protests outside the Parliament Street Police Station that commenced last night, to demand that Delhi Police file an FIR against ACP Vivek Bhagat, who allegedly sexually assaulted a female journalist while she was reporting on Saturday. The independent journalist said the incident happened on 3 October at Jantar Mantar while police were detaining AISA president Neha Bora.
In a video recorded outside Parliament Street Police Station, she said she was filming Bora’s detention when ACP Vivek Bhagat allegedly groped her, squeezed her breast/chest and pushed her away. She said that when she confronted him, he moved away, and that she subsequently went to Parliament Street Police Station to lodge a complaint. Rosy said she had been waiting there for more than three hours without an FIR being registered. Speaking to The Quint, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat said she was with the journalist for four hours at the Parliament Street Police Station.
“They have the audacity to tell me, ‘If there was video evidence, we would have filed it. The girl is sitting with me and you want video evidence?’ Now we have to tell our girls, ‘Make sure you have reels of where your body is being pressed and harassed. How dare they?’” Karat said
The CJP said its team went inside the police station with the complainant and sought an FIR against Bhagat, but alleged that Delhi Police refused, citing the ongoing Crime Branch investigation. The CJP described the police response as an attempt to protect its ACP.