As Delhi witnessed a wave of protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the Delhi Police and the CRPF, deployed to maintain law and order, came down heavily on journalists covering the demonstrations.

Journalists were detained and assaulted, their equipment was damaged, and their phones were taken away. In fact, several journalists were detained by the Delhi Police even after a Supreme Court order on the afternoon of October 11 clearly stated that lawyers, journalists, and other professionals “shall not be hindered in the discharge of their professional duties in any manner whatsoever.”

The News Minute spoke to around 20 journalists who covered the protests, several of them from digital media organisations. Totally, the accounts reveal how journalists on the ground were subjected to detention, physical assault, intimidation, and the seizure or destruction of their equipment as they reported on the protests.

I was at Connaught Place near Sansad Marg around 6 pm on October 11. 

I was following some protesters who were being detained by the police. Suddenly one of the police officers turned toward me. It was ASI Kapil Kumar. He started questioning me very aggressively, saying, ‘What are you doing here?’ 

I put my hands up, saying, ‘Sir, I will go. Mujhe koi problem nahi karna hai, mujhe bas cover karna hai.’ [I don’t want to create any problem, I just want to cover the protest].

Four–five people came from behind and started manhandling me.

I told them, ‘Sir I am coming, I am cooperating.’ But they kept shoving me.

They were wearing khaki, so could have been Delhi Police. But my colleagues told me that their dialect sounded like they were from Haryana, so they could have been Haryana Police too.

They shoved me, grabbed me by the collar, and kept hitting my head. Four or five of them kept pushing me. I tried resisting a little bit, but after a point, they would have torn my t-shirt also, so I thought I’ll just go.

Then they shoved me inside a bus, made me sit down, tried snatching my phone and breaking my camera. So I put my phone in my pocket and kept the camera inside the bag and held it tightly so they wouldn’t snatch it. They kept beating throughout that time. Saying, ‘A lot of nationalism you have suddenly when you have a camera.’

This was the normal orange bus.

Another group of police officers came inside this bus. They said, 'Put him in another vehicle and take him somewhere else, because he is not understanding.’ The first police officer who you can see in the video then handed me over to the group of police officers.

The moment I told them, ‘Sir please do not beat me, I am cooperating,’ I was slapped again. They kept pushing and shoving me while I said, 'Sir I am coming with you, I have a press card also, you don’t have to detain me.’

But they didn’t listen, they threw me inside a police car after a lot of tussle.

Then they tried to threaten me with the butt of a gun. They took out the gun and they were just poking it in my stomach and with the stick also they were poking inside and they just kept beating, shoving around for some time.

They kept hitting my face and one of them said, “You have to treat him with a gun, he is not listening.”

This was at 6 pm. The SC order was already out by that time. I mentioned it to them also, ‘Sir, today only the SC said again to allow free movement,’ but they laughed it off. 

They were like, ‘We will show you’ kind of thing.

One guy I was following was also put in the bus and car I was in. He was also beaten.

After a point I just pretended to delete it on my phone. I just selected all the pictures and they thought I had deleted the pictures, so then they were like, ‘Cool now you can go. Just keep walking straight and then right.’

It’s only because I kept insisting that I have a press card (that I was let go then).

On October 11 afternoon, I went over to RK Ashram, as I knew a demonstration with AISA leader Neha Bora was about to take place. I went there with my cameraman to cover the protest. Upon reaching, I saw protesters demonstrating in small groups. A young man was hit with a lathi and fell down. I went over to cover that. In that short duration, the police surrounded us and dragged my cameraman away. They injured him. When I rushed to protect him, a police officer came up from behind and started shouting loudly—it's all recorded on camera—saying, "Catch her! Grab her! Put them on the bus!" 

Then multiple female officers came, forcefully stuffed us into the bus, and dragged us. I kept telling them, "I have my mic ID, we are just doing our job. We are reputed journalists. We were doing our duty, showing what you were doing. And for showing that, you detained us!" I had my mic ID and my ID card. I repeatedly told them, “I could walk on my own, but you deliberately did this to humiliate and insult us.”

After being forced onto the bus, my cameraman, Anuj, somehow managed to follow behind in a vehicle. He heard me and, with great difficulty, I was able to retrieve my phone.

Multiple officers dragged me in such a rough manner—you can see it in the video—that my clothes got torn. To tell you the truth, I had no choice but to go and change my clothes first.

Footage shows journalist Pragya Mishra being physically lifted and carried away by at least four police personnel. The officers are seen holding her by her arms and legs as they carry her towards a waiting police bus, while she continues to hold her microphone and protest her detention.

We were walking towards a protest at RK Ashram to cover it. My camerapersons were walking around 200 meters ahead. It was then that I noticed that police were detaining journalists along with protesters. I began capturing visuals using my phone.

I saw police carrying 24 News reporter Suhail Mohammed and cameraman Rahul into the bus. They held them by their hands and legs and dragged them into the bus. 

While I was capturing visuals, a policeman held my hand. I showed him my ID card. But 2–3 policemen pushed me into the van.

Inside the van, we told the police that we were journalists, but they did not respond. As the vehicle moved forward, we saw some mediapersons from Kerala standing on the footpath. We shouted to them from the van that we were detained. Then they began calling senior police officers and alerting them.

They stopped the van at Connaught Place. They released us only after other mediapersons began arguing with them.

Because of the intervention of other mediapersons, our detention was limited to around 10–15 minutes. Of the total seven persons taken into custody in the van, only one was a protester.

Vedanta and video journalist Sara Khan were reporting from near Connaught place, right in front of Rajeev Chowk metro station, on October 11, around 12.30 pm. 

Police constables came and dragged them away in a bid to detain them. They were initially separated and detained in a bus which already had over a dozen protesters. There were more than five buses parked in a row. Around 150 people who were taking part in that march were detained in those buses.

Sara was dragged by 8–10 police personnel, mostly women constables. Initially, a male police officer pushed her a few times and then women constables dragged and shoved her into the bus. She kept telling them she was from the press but they did not care. She was roughed up and assaulted in the process and was detained in the bus for 5-10 minutes.

Then DCP Sachin Sharma who recognised Vedanta asked the police to let him and Sara go. Later another DCP came and apologised to Sara for having used force against her and claimed that they did not know they were from the press.

On October 11 evening, I was picked up near Connaught Place in front of Block B, around 8 pm. I was let go after about an hour. 

There was a man pretending to be Muslim, wearing a skullcap but making anti-Hindu statements and trying to assault people. He was among a group of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal-related people. 

I was surprised to see a seemingly elderly Muslim man assaulting people while he seemed to be........

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