‘Are you going to Delhi?’ Gujarat Police detain, call and house arrest students, activists before protest

The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) and several Left-wing organisations have called for a protest at Jantar Mantar on October 10, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Security in the capital has been tightened, with heavy barricading around Jantar Mantar, a large deployment of Delhi Police and paramilitary forces, and a request from Delhi Police to the Delhi Metro to close 57 stations from tonight. 

Ahead of the protest, organising bodies and student groups allege that police in various states are visiting the homes of their activists to stop them from travelling to Delhi.

In Gujarat, students, social activists and youth active on public interest issues say they have received calls from the police. Several told Newslaundry that officers visited their homes, and one said he was made to sign a written assurance that he would not travel to Delhi. There are also instances of some people being detained.

‘I was made to sign a statement saying I wouldn’t go to Delhi’

Jigra, an Ahmedabad resident, is a law student. He is not affiliated with any political organisation but has participated in local movements and protests. He was also active in recent local protests regarding the NEET-UG paper leak.

He recounts that around 7:30 pm on October 8, a group of officers in civilian clothes from the Crime Branch reached near his home in a Gypsy and two SUVs to pick him up.

He says, “Some of my family members are in the police force. When they found out, they informed the police that I was a family member. Afterwards, they called me downstairs, questioned me, and made me sign a document. The document contained some of my personal details and a statement declaring that I would not participate in the CJP protest scheduled for October 10 in Delhi.”

Jigra adds, "I wasn't going to attend the protest anyway due to family reasons. However, the manner in which the police arrived and forced me to sign that statement was deeply unsettling.”

‘My mother was asked whether I was going to Delhi’

Pratik, a 21-year-old engineer from Ahmedabad, also participates in local movements. On Thursday, his mother received a phone call. The caller asked for his mobile number, but she refused to provide it.

He says, “My mother was out of the house when she received the call. When she returned, she encountered a stranger downstairs. He asked if she was my mother. When she confirmed this, he asked her if I was going to Delhi on October 10.”

The man left shortly after. Upon learning about the incident from his mother, Pratik called the number back.

“The person who answered identified himself as being from the Crime Branch. He asked me the same question – whether I was going to Delhi or not. I asked where he had obtained my address and my mother’s number. When I repeatedly asked this, he disconnected the call.”

Pratik later learned that the individual had arrived at his housing society on a motorcycle, asked the society secretary about him, and obtained his mobile number from there.

‘The police reached my room’

Savan Zalariya, an Ahmedabad resident, is a professor and active on social issues. He frequently participates in various movements and campaigns organised in the city.

Savan recounts that he was out for some work on Thursday when the police arrived at his residence. They first questioned his roommates about who lived there and when they made the rent agreement. Later, he received a phone call in which they asked about his occupation. When he described his work, they began asking about his schedule – specifically, when he leaves and returns.

He says, “I asked them what they intended to do with this information and how they had managed to reach my home. I told them that if they needed any information, they could have asked me to come over, and I would have.” According to him, the caller disconnected the phone after he asked these questions.

Savan notes, “Anyone active in public movements here is receiving calls from the police, or having officers show up at their homes.”

Crime Branch office, then the police station, and finally, house arrest

According to Ashwin Vaghela, a social activist from Ahmedabad, he was speaking to residents of a slum settlement about health-related issues around 4 pm on Thursday (October 8) when two police officers arrived.

Vaghela recounts, “I asked the officers to let me finish some work, but they refused. They took me to the Crime Branch office at Haveli, where they confiscated my phone. I was interrogated for about four hours. They kept asking why I wanted to attend the protest in Delhi, insisting I shouldn’t go, and inquiring about how many people were planning to participate.”

He states that the police subsequently took him to the Gomtipur police station – the same area where he resides. Three of his associates – Dharmesh Vaghela, Pravinbhai, and Ramaben Solanki – were also brought there.

Vaghela claims they were detained at the station for a considerable time. Meanwhile, news of their detention spread, and hundreds of people gathered outside the Gomtipur police station to protest; some even sat down in protest outside the premises.

He adds, “The Police Inspector (PI) then asked us to submit a written undertaking stating that we would not participate in the protest scheduled for October 10 at Jantar Mantar. We were told we would be allowed to go home only if we did so; otherwise, we would be held at the station until 4 pm on October 9. We refused to provide such a written statement. We told them, ‘Keep us wherever you wish, but we will not sign any such document.’”

According to Vaghela, the crowd outside the station kept growing. Eventually, around 2 am on October 9, the four of them were allowed to go home. However, he claims that he has now been placed under house arrest, with police personnel deployed outside his home.

Several similar cases have come to light. Personnel from the Crime Branch are picking people up and dropping them off at police stations.

When we called Sneh Bhavsar, an activist involved in social movements in Ahmedabad, around 9:00 am on October 9, he said he was currently sitting at a police station. Crime Branch officials had arrived at Bhavsar’s home at 7:45 am and asked him to accompany them.

According to Bhavsar, the Crime Branch brought him to the University police station and left him there. When he asked why, they said the Police Sub-Inspector would explain when he arrived. When we last spoke to Bhavsar at 11.30 am, the PSI had not yet arrived, and he was still at the station.

Bhavsar says it appears the police’s objective is to keep him detained at the station for the day so that he cannot attend any protests.

Additionally, the police have placed SFI state general secretary and lawyer Satyesha Leuva under house arrest at her residence in Sabarkantha district. In addition to being a lawyer, Leuva is the Sarpanch of Vadvasa Gram Panchayat.

There are demands for their immediate release.

Meanwhile, in Ahmedabad, Dev Desai, associated with the Anhad Foundation, has also been placed under house arrest. Desai told Newslaundry that two Crime Branch officers arrived at his home on Friday morning. They asked if he was going to Delhi; he said no. Since then, they have been stationed outside his house.

Newslaundry contacted the Gujarat Police for comment on these allegations. Sharad Singhal, Joint CP of the Ahmedabad Crime Branch, stated that he would not comment on the matter.

 A quarter-century of Modi governance calls for questions and a hamper. To mark the occasion, we have offers for subscribers and other readers.