Police detain youth, arrest activists ahead of 10 October Delhi protest

• CRPF battalions from Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and J&K rushed to Delhi with anti-riot gear and ammunition

• Audio warnings against gatherings played overnight around Connaught Place and Jantar Mantar

• SFI, AISF, Cockroach Janata Party and AISA allege midnight police raids targeting activists’ families

“It is the Emergency,” tweeted Ashutosh Ranka, co-founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). In a video statement, Ranka alleged that Rajasthan Police personnel were visiting volunteers’ homes and pressuring them to accompany officers to police stations. Other CJP social media accounts posted videos purportedly showing police detaining young people travelling by train to Delhi to attend the 10 October protest rally at Jantar Mantar.

Saurav Das, a co-convenor of the CJP, posted videos from South Delhi alleging that police personnel had assaulted CJP volunteer Mohan Yadav. The video captures what appear to be the screams of Yadav and his children.

Union home minister Amit Shah is learnt to have cancelled his travel plans and remained in Delhi to monitor the security arrangements ahead of the October 10 protest. The Hindu reported on Friday that at least 70 companies of CRPF personnel were being redeployed from West Bengal and Chhattisgarh to Delhi.

A communication accessed by the newspaper stated: “All companies shall be duly equipped with the latest anti-riot equipment, operational-scale weapons and prescribed ammunition, as applicable. All personnel shall be properly briefed regarding the nature of duties, discipline and necessary security precautions to be observed during the subject deployment.”

Each company comprises approximately 100 personnel.

Even in Kolkata, CJP activists claimed, police had intercepted Abdul Hafiz and a group of volunteers travelling to Delhi and beaten them up. They claimed that several women in the group were assaulted too. “The protesters are currently at a hospital in Salt Lake, Kolkata. Abdul has shared that he and several other protesters, including women, were brutally beaten by the police. One woman reportedly lost consciousness during the assault,” posted a volunteer.

The government appears determined to foil the 10 October protest at Jantar Mantar. Across central Delhi, audio warnings played in loop late on Thursday night warning people not to gather in the prohibited area. The warning reminds people not to break barricades or join any procession in view of restrictions under Section 163 of BNS in force in the area. The audio can be heard here:

Reports of police action are being widely shared on social media from several BJP-ruled states. The developments follow police notices, appeals and WhatsApp messages urging people not to attend the protest in New Delhi, which police have warned is “likely to turn violent”. In Mumbai, housing societies have reportedly been asked to discourage residents from travelling to Delhi “for their own safety”.