‘Are you trying to intimidate us,’ student questions Delhi Police over home notice

Before the Jantar Mantar agitation ended on July 25, the Centre assured a two-member Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) delegation comprising Saurav Das and Abhijeet Ranka that no police action would be taken against student protesters.

Days later, after criticism over police action against those accused of using abusive language during the agitation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a video that he wanted to forgive the youth who had used obscene language. Yet several student leaders and participants now say the message of reconciliation has been followed by police visits to homes, criminal complaints, hacking attempts, online abuse and intimidation.

The latest complaint comes from CJP chief spokesperson Saurav Das. While he was away in Maharashtra for the party's meeting, he says a group of right-wing YouTubers entered his residence, filmed inside the house and questioned people present about who lived there, how long they had stayed and the rent they paid.

Calling it "not just an invasion of privacy but a grave security threat", Das warned that if anti-social elements attacked him or his family after the videos were circulated, the YouTubers and their alleged troll handlers would be responsible.

Das has since approached the Delhi Police. “I have filed a formal complaint with the Delhi Police against those who unlawfully entered my residence in my absence, seeking charges of criminal house-trespass, criminal intimidation, defamation, and criminal conspiracy,” he said. His complaint names the social media handles @Pamphlet_in and @JaipurDialogues. According to Das, content recorded inside his house was later uploaded online.

Another prominent face of the protest, AISA national president Neha Bora, says attempts were made to hack her Instagram account.

Sharing a screenshot showing Instagram had protected her account because of suspicious activity, Bora wrote: “Attempts to hack accounts will not be enough. Your every attempt to intimidate and silence us only makes our resolve stronger.” She also posted in Hindi: “Koshish tumhari jaari hai, par Gen Z tum par bhaari hai.”Neha Bora and JNU Students' Union Joint Secretary Danish were among the leading faces of the June 20-July 25 agitation.

Danish, who had joined Bora on hunger strike before being hospitalised, says police later reached her village and questioned her family. “In this country, it has become a crime for women to protest against the paper leak. It has become a crime to question corruption in education,” she said in a video statement. According to her, police repeatedly asked villagers and family members for her phone number, where she lived and details about her parents.

Challenging the action, she said: “I am an adult woman, a JNU research scholar and Joint Secretary of the JNU Students' Union. If you want to question me, come to my hostel in JNU. Your politics of intimidation will not work and we are not afraid.

Indian Youth Congress leader Surbhi Dwivedi has narrated a similar experience. Speaking from her Mumbai home, she said Delhi Police officials arrived early in the morning while she was observing a fast on the first Monday of Sawan. According to Dwivedi, officers initially shouted that they had a warrant before clarifying that it was a notice linked to a case registered after the February 2026 AI Summit protest in Delhi. She recalled that in the same case, a male SHO had allegedly called and threatened her late at night before sending her the FIR around 2 am.

“This could have been conveyed over the phone. The notice could have been sent by post. Why send Delhi Police officials to my house? Are you trying to intimidate me?” she asked.

The first major police action after the movement targeted SFI leader and former JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh. On July 28, Delhi Police entered the CPI(M)'s central office in an attempt to detain her.

Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas objected, saying police had not produced a valid arrest warrant. CPI(M) described the episode as political vendetta, while Polit Bureau member and former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the action reflected growing intolerance towards dissent after SFI's role in the anti-NEET protests.Police questioning has not been confined to student leaders. Mohammed Junaid, who ran a food stall serving protesters at Jantar Mantar, says he and his family were questioned after the agitation.

He has since approached court challenging the action.Women protesters say they have faced particularly severe intimidation. Ruchika Singh and Shraddha Singh say they received threats, harassment and mental trauma after participating in the protest. Ruchika says she was pressured into issuing an apology.

Protest participants and social media creators associated with the movement say they have received death and rape threats, had personal addresses and phone numbers circulated online and faced police complaints.On July 29, Smriti Singh, Ghaziabad district president of the Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik) women's wing, lodged six FIRs against Ruchika Singh in Noida, including one Zero FIR, invoking Sections 352, 353(1) and 356(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Another protester, Riya Ahir, told a press conference on August 5 that she was the woman who had stopped a police van in Mumbai to prevent what she described as the illegal detention of 20 students. She said she had lodged a police complaint on July 27 alleging harassment but no FIR had been registered by August 5.

“They are neither allowing daughters to study nor allowing them to live in peace,” she said.Addressing the same press conference, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said complaining about a failed education system was not a crime.

“Talking about forgiving students while sending goons to their homes is completely meaningless,” he said. Praising the students, Gandhi added that despite everything they had faced, they were willing to speak publicly, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were avoiding facing the media.

The opposition has continued to demand accountability over the July 20 police action at Jantar Mantar, while the students and organisations associated with the movement insist that the assurances given before the protest ended must now be reflected on the ground.