Updates: Students heading to Jantar Mantar detained, CJP says ‘nothing short of laying siege’

Several students heading to the Jantar Mantar protest site were detained by the Delhi Police on Saturday morning.

This came as the Cockroach Janta Party political campaign continued its demonstrations at Jantar Mantar to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged irregularities in the conduct of competitive exams. Solidarity protests were held in several cities on Friday.

Here’s more on this and other updates:

Students heading to Jantar Mantar detained

• The Delhi Police was on Saturday checking vehicles at the Safdarjung tomb intersection for persons looking like students. If the students were heading to Jantar Mantar, they were being detained in a police bus. Since 6 am, about 25 students had been detained in one bus.
• The police personnel on the ground told Scroll that the students were being taken to the nearest police station, which is Lodhi Colony. The police was also noting down where the students had travelled from.

CJP urges police to stop detaining protesters

• Noting that citizens were being detained while trying to travel to the protest site, the Cockroach Janta Party said on Saturday that the Delhi Police “appears to have chosen the path of intimidation” and its actions were “nothing short of laying siege” to Jantar Mantar.
• “Drinking water is being prevented from reaching the protesters,” the campaign said...

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