Those detained include wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia among several others.
Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia were among several persons detained by the Delhi Police as they attempted to march to Parliament where the new House was inaugurated. According to Delhi Police, the protesters had been informed that they would not be allowed to take out the protest march but they went ahead with it anyway.
“They broke the barricades and didn’t follow the directions given by the police. They broke the law, hence they were detained,” Dependra Pathak, Special CP (Law & Order), Delhi Police said on the detention of protesting wrestlers.
Following the detention, the Delhi Police also removed the tents installed by the protesting wrestlers at Jantar Mantar for several months. Visuals showed the tents and mattresses being removed and loaded by the administration.
The protesting wrestlers had planned a Mahila Mahapanchayat at the new Parliament House to press for their demand that the government initiate action against Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. “We were marching peacefully but they forcefully dragged and detained us,” wrestler Sakshi Malik said after being detained by police.
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Security had been heightened in the area and on Delhi borders amid inputs that large groups of farmers were set to enter the capital to participate in the Mahapanchayat and the march to the new Parliament.
“All others (farmers) have been stopped (by the police). We will sit here for now and decide what to do next,” farmer leader Rakesh Tikait said after being stopped at the Ghazipur border.
A scuffle was also reported between the protesters and police personnel. Bajrang Punia, speaking to the media, later said that they did not break any barricades and the police should release the protesters detained by the police. He, however, insisted that they will go on with the proposed Mahapanchayat as planned irrespective of the restrictions imposed by the Delhi Police in view of the inauguration of the new Parliament.
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Wrestler Bajrang Punia, who was among those detained from the Jantar Mantar protest site, said, “Does any government get the champions of their country treated like this? What crime have we committed?” He also shared pictures from the scuffle that broke out between protestors at the site and the police.
Ahead of the wrestlers’ protest march to the new Parliament, security was increased at Delhi borders, including Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur. Police also detained several farmer leaders in Haryana, including BKU Haryana chief Gurnam Singh Chaduni, in their houses. They were supposed to march to Delhi in support of the protesting wrestlers.
