New Delhi: An NSUI protester from Kerala has alleged that Delhi Police personnel punched him in the face, kicked him in the chest, back and private parts, and strangled him inside a police vehicle after he was detained during demonstrations demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Arjun, who has been living in Delhi for three years, made the allegations during a press conference addressed by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday amid mounting opposition criticism of police action against demonstrators. He also alleged that four minors, aged 16 and 17, who were not participating in the protest, were beaten inside the vehicle.
Recounting his experience, Arjun said he was picked up from Connaught Place along with protesters, journalists, lawyers and other people present in the area. They were taken to a makeshift detention site near LIC, close to Rajiv Chowk, where he alleged that police personnel took away their phones and searched their private files.
Arjun alleged that detainees were taken to a heavily barricaded area near LIC, where media personnel and civilians were not allowed to enter. They were made to sit in rows, with eight to 10 people in each row, and their phones were confiscated while personnel searched galleries, recently deleted files and hidden folders.
He further alleged that Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Ashok Bishnoi, who he said was in charge of the detention site, assured detainees that they would be treated safely and dropped home, though other personnel allegedly threatened to beat them. Arjun said detainees were subsequently called into a police vehicle with multiple compartments, where commandos were lined up, and that he was assaulted by several personnel in succession.
Arjun also alleged that four boys aged 16 and 17 were subjected to similar treatment inside the vehicle despite not having participated in the protest, and noted that another detainee with a pre-existing hand fracture was beaten despite his injury. According to Arjun, the bus left the site at around 5.30 pm and reached a detention centre in Pandwala Khurd at about 7.30 pm.
He stated that friends and lawyers helped secure the detainees' release within three hours after managing to alert people outside. He alleged that the minors were released without phones or money to travel home, and that medical assistance was provided only after a senior officer arrived.
At the press conference, Rahul Gandhi warned that those responsible for the alleged assaults would face consequences and urged protesters to preserve video evidence of police action. Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court recently heard a petition seeking an independent probe into the alleged assaults during the October 10 demonstrations, allowing the police three weeks to file an affidavit on its maintainability.