At least six people have been arrested in connection with a demonstration held in Guwahati in solidarity with the protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, while over two dozen people were detained while on their way to attend another protest on Saturday. A protest, called by the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), had been held at Guwahati’s designated protest site in Chachal, attended by a few hundred protesters, and had taken place largely without incident.
The protesters in Delhi had been demanding the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as Union minister – a development that came later in the evening. On Friday, a few people were detained in connection with a case registered at Dispur police station under 10 sections of the BNS containing charges including “acts endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India”, promoting enmity between different groups, criminal conspiracy, and assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from doing their job.
An official at the Dispur police station stated that six people had been arrested and placed in police remand over Friday and Saturday. The grounds for arrest of one of the detainees alleged that he was “allegedly found leading, instigating and influencing the protesting gathering” and that he was “allegedly involved in arguing with and obstructing the on-duty police personnel deployed for the maintenance of law and order.” It states that “his acts and conduct, along with other members of the assembly, created a likelihood of breach of peace and disturbance of public tranquillity” and that “there are reasonable grounds to suspect that he was acting pursuant to a common design and in furtherance of a pre-planned conspiracy with other known and unknown persons…” It went on to state that the “source and manner of funding, if any,” for organizing the protest “require thorough investigation.” “At this stage, the possibility of financial assistance being provided by undisclosed or external sources cannot be ruled out.
It is also necessary to ascertain whether any financial or other assistance was received from sources outside India or from any unlawful organization for facilitating or supporting the alleged activities,” it states. Another protest at the same venue had been called by the SFI for Saturday. On Saturday, police and CRPF blocked the entry to the protest site, and protesters arriving at the venue were detained and taken to three different police stations, with most being released in the evening.
Dispur police station OC Bhaskar Malla Patowary said that “the organisers did not take permission for holding the protest”. He said some protesters who had taken out a procession chanting slogans outside the site after the Thursday protest had “blocked roads.”
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