The incidents led to allegations of selective policing. Demonstrators accused officers of continuing to detain people while men assaulted protesters in full view of the police. New Delhi: Viral videos from the October 10-11 protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar show men purportedly associated with right-wing organisations abusing and assaulting protesters and journalists in central Delhi.
The protests called for Kumar’s resignation and challenged the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR), a voter-list revision exercise. The Delhi Police deployed a large contingent of personnel across the capital and detained demonstrators attempting to gather in Central Delhi, including around Connaught Place and Jantar Mantar. The Delhi Police registered a case and arrested four men identified as Raman Saini, Vivekanand alias Vivek, Kapil Kumar and Ravinder Singh alias Govind Hindu. The case was registered at Kamla Market police station. One of the accused, Ravinder Singh, identified himself as a Hindu Raksha Dal member in a video recorded after his detention. In another viral footage, police personnel can be se seen escorting him. “Don’t harass me. All the senior officers know me,” he can be heard as saying. He also threatened further action against protesters whom he accused of raising anti-national slogans and abusing the Delhi Police. The police response faced questions after the Supreme Court intervened over restrictions imposed around the protest. The directions addressed restrictions affecting ordinary commuters and did not give protesters an unrestricted right to assemble at any location. The Supreme Court also stressed that authorities must follow the law while dealing with peaceful gatherings and must not resort to illegal detention.
On October 10, during a special hearing, the court directed authorities not to completely halt the Delhi Metro and train services in response to the planned demonstration.
“The Hindu Raksha Dal will not back down,” he said. The police continued detaining people during the demonstrations, including individuals who said they had no connection to the agitation.
Investigators claim that they are trying to contact the survivor to record her statement. The case was registered under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including sections relating to wrongful restraint, voluntarily causing hurt and assault.
