Delhi Police Files FIR Against 22 INDIA Bloc Protesters

Delhi Police has registered an FIR against 22 protesters detained during a march from Ramlila Maidan towards Jantar Mantar during the INDIA bloc rally on Sunday. The police confirmed the FIR on Tuesday, following the detention of the protesters at Minto Road.

Leaders of the INDIA bloc had organised a rally at Ramlila Maidan against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, raising allegations of irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

While police did not disclose the exact number of people who attended the rally, estimates suggested that around 50,000 supporters were present. The event at Ramlila Maidan had received permission, but police said some participants later began moving towards Jantar Mantar, which is no longer designated as a protest site.

Protesters Stopped at Minto Road and Taken to Police Stations

According to police, members of the Disha Students’ Organisation and the Revolutionary Workers’ Party of India (RWPI) took out a march towards Jantar Mantar at around 5 pm on Sunday.

Local police personnel, supported by paramilitary forces, stopped the protesters at Minto Road. The detained individuals were taken in two buses to Dwarka Sector 23 and Jafarpur Kalan police stations.

Those taken to the two police stations were released by 2 am on Monday.

Delhi Police FIR Invokes Multiple BNS Sections

The FIR was registered under Sections 223(a), 132, 221, 121(1), 3(5) and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The provisions cited in the case relate to allegations including disobedience of orders, assault or criminal force against a public servant to deter the discharge of official duties, obstruction of a public servant, voluntarily causing hurt, common intention and criminal conspiracy.

The registration of the FIR means the allegations are subject to the legal process; it does not establish the guilt of the protesters.

Vishal Detained Separately and Asked to Furnish Peace Bond

One protester, identified as Vishal, was taken separately to the Connaught Place police station. Police placed him under preventive detention under Sections 126 and 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).

He was produced before the Special Executive Magistrate at Mandir Marg on Monday and asked to execute a peace bond. After refusing, he was released upon furnishing sureties and signing a personal bond.

Activists Allege Police Dragged Protesters Into Buses

Members of the organisations involved in the march alleged that police personnel dragged protesters, including women, into the buses. They also claimed that one woman fainted during the detention.

Suraj Rait, a member of RWPI, said Vishal, an artist and activist associated with the organisation, had been detained for 23 hours and denied basic medication.

Rait described the march from Ramlila Maidan to Jantar Mantar as peaceful and said it was organised by RWPI and the Disha Students’ Organisation. He said participants were demanding that Jantar Mantar be restored as a protest site and that the SIR exercise be scrapped.

Rait also alleged that Vishal was pressured to sign a peace bond despite disputing that he had breached the peace.

“As part of the new norm that the police is setting, Vishal was also being coerced into signing a peace bond, but he refused to sign any peace bond or interim peace bond, arguing that he had made no such breach of peace,” Rait said.

The police action and the allegations made by the protest organisers come amid the INDIA bloc’s wider campaign against the Election Commission and the SIR exercise.