New Delhi: Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, activist Yogendra Yadav and AISA national president Neha Bora were among nearly 150 people detained by the Delhi Police on Saturday as they marched from Patel Chowk towards Jantar Mantar, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Nitya Ramakrishnan, Pallav Sisodia and Prashant Bhushan, along with activist Yogendra Yadav, joined Bora and other students during the march, AISA members said.
The police began detaining protesters as they gathered near the protest site, with security personnel deployed at multiple points and barricades placed on roads leading towards Jantar Mantar, PTI reported.
A male police officer manhandled Bora during the police action, AISA members alleged. Another Delhi Police officer allegedly abused her, they said. The allegations could not be independently verified immediately.
People started gathering after Bora, who was among those detained on Friday, called on activists to return to Jantar Mantar at 1 pm and continue their protest demanding Kumar’s resignation and raising concerns over the Special Intensive Review (SIR) of electoral rolls.
On Friday, nearly 1,000 protesters were detained from Jantar Mantar and surrounding areas as security personnel prevented large groups from reaching the protest site. Many of those detained were subsequently released.
The Delhi Police have registered at least three FIRs in connection with Friday’s protests, two at the Parliament Street police station and one at the Connaught Place police station, under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for alleged disobedience of an order duly promulgated by a public servant.
While no individual or organisation has been named as an accused in the FIRs, details of the organisers and organisations that proposed or participated in the demonstrations have been mentioned in their contents, a senior police official said.
The FIRs relate to alleged violations of prohibitory orders imposed across the New Delhi district under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which prohibited gatherings of five or more people, processions, demonstrations, picketing, dharnas and slogan shouting without prior written permission.
In a video post on Friday evening, Bora said that the protest would continue and urged activists to return to Jantar Mantar. She said the detentions would not intimidate protesters and called for continued mobilisation in support of the demand for Kumar’s resignation.
The second day’s mobilisation saw continued police deployment around Jantar Mantar as AISA and other groups pressed ahead with their protest.