Police drags students off train protesting against Gyanesh Kumar
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Students allege that police are preventing them from participating in the protest.
The Madhya Pradesh police stopped students heading to Delhi to participate in a proposed protest against the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on October 10, detaining them from trains in Bhopal, Itarsi, and Gwalior. According to a senior police officer, at least 30 people have been taken into custody and are being advised to return to their home states.
Neha Bora, the national president of the All India Students Association (AISA), has also criticized the police action on X.
AISA leader Neha Bora said that,
A cowardly dictator hiding behind the mask of democracy has now been exposed. Dozens of students heading to Delhi for the protest have been detained by the police in Itarsi, Madhya Pradesh.
This protest has been called by the Cockroach People's Party (CJP). The police officer stated that those stopped include protesters traveling from Goa, Karnataka, and Maharashtra to Delhi.
The officer said,
We have taken the protesters off the trains. They are in custody and being advised to return to their states. We have detained at least 30 protesters.
CJP has called for a protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. However, citing a lack of permission, the Delhi police and administration have imposed several restrictions to prevent people from gathering. These include a ban on trains stopping at the capital's railway stations and the closure of several Delhi Metro stations.
People heading to Delhi and student activists have alleged that the police are preventing them from participating in the protest.
On Thursday night, CJP's Ashutosh Ranka claimed that 10,000 people have been detained across the country.
According to a report by Indian Express, on Thursday in Itarsi, the police, Government Railway Police (GRP), and Railway Protection Force (RPF) stopped a group traveling from Pune to Delhi on the Goa Express. GRP officials stated that 21 people were detained after reports of a large group of youths heading to Delhi disrupting public order. They were taken to a hotel in Itarsi and asked to return to Pune.
Shravani Bua, the Pune district convenor of the All India Students Federation (AISF), told Indian Express on Thursday that the police had been tracking Pune University students even before they boarded the Goa Express. She claimed that 22 activists were traveling with them on the train. At Bhusawal railway station in Maharashtra, the police had attempted to remove them and activist Niharika Bhosale from the train. At that time, they had refused to disembark. Later, Bua and her companions were taken off at Itarsi station.
Meanwhile, CJP spokesperson Deepak Balian has alleged that he was detained and then placed under house arrest in Alwar district of Rajasthan. His lawyer told Scroll that the police picked up Balian at night and released him around three in the morning. However, advocate Akhil Chaudhary alleged that the police kept his phone without providing any seizure memo or hash value.
Chaudhary said,
He has been illegally placed under house arrest at his home in Mankhera village. About 20 police personnel are stationed outside his house, preventing his movement. Our demand is that the police immediately leave the area and allow him to come and go freely.
Earlier, on October 8, CJP leader Abhijit Deepke alleged that the Rajasthan police brutally assaulted Balian and his brother, causing serious injury to his brother's head. Alwar Superintendent of Police Sudhir Chaudhary denied the allegations of head injury. However, he did not respond to questions regarding Balian's house arrest.
It is noteworthy that extensive security arrangements are being made in the capital ahead of the proposed protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at Jantar Mantar on Saturday, October 10. The Cockroach People's Party (CJP) and the All India Students Association (AISA) have jointly called for the protest. Several opposition parties are also expected to participate. The Delhi police have cited a prohibitory order under Section 163 of the Indian National Security Act (BNSS) to deny permission for the protest.
Amid concerns of crowd gathering, police preparations are not limited to the roads and protest sites. Railway services, app-based taxis, hotel bookings, and metro operations may also be affected. Separate centers are being prepared for those who are detained. Some restrictions have already been announced, while measures such as closing metro stations and internet restrictions are still under consideration. However, the Supreme Court has reprimanded the central government over the order to close metro stations.
The court stated that public transport cannot be completely halted in the name of security arrangements. Such restrictions would infringe on the rights of ordinary citizens who rely on these services for their daily work and livelihoods.