Author: Ananya Bhardwaj & Shalini Nair
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: August 26, 2011
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/protests-lock-down-heart-of-capital/837444/0
At least 350 protesters were detained on Thursday
evening as they marched to the Prime Minister's house following a call by
activist Anna Hazare to push for the Jan Lokpal Bill.
Police put up barricades on all roads leading
to the Prime Minister's house, diverted traffic and shut down four nearby
Delhi Metro stations that they suspected supporters could use to come for
the protest.
Hazare had on Wednesday called for the protest
to begin at 5 pm but supporters began marching to 7, Race Course Road (RCR)
more than a hour earlier in small groups, waving the Tricolour and shouting
slogans against corruption.
"The police have blocked all the roads
but no matter what, we will find some way to reach there," said Ranjeet
Rohilla, a 26-year-old engineer with a leading computer firm, who came with
a group of friends.
But police personnel who had sealed off nearly
half a kilometre radius around the Prime Minister's house stopped the protesters
and took them to nearby police stations under detention.
At about 4.30 pm, the Delhi Police said they
wrote to Anna Hazare requesting to call off the protest citing traffic obstruction
and possible breach of law and order, but got no response.
Police said 60 people who were detained from
outside the Prime Minister's house and 290 others detained from areas around
the New Delhi district were released in the evening.
Arun Kumar Sundar, 37, was among those who
was picked up from outside 7 RCR. "I came to Delhi on August 18 and have
been at the Ramlila Maidan since," he said.
Hailing from Uttar Pradesh, garment trader
Sundar said he would not return home until the Jan Lokpal Bill is passed.
Some protesters managed to reach the Home
Minister's residence but were sent to a nearby police station in state-run
buses specially hired for the job.
"We reached P Chidambaram's residence
in a group of 30. Initially the protest was peaceful and we were sitting.
Later, we started shouting slogans and singing. It was then when we were bundled
into buses and brought here to the Tughlaq Road police station," said
Shubham Kumar, an 18-year-old college student.
Vipin Chandra, 27, was among the supporters
who alleged that he and a few others were beaten with lathis. "They beat
me five times with their lathis and dragged everyone to the Tughlaq Road police
station. Women too were beaten up and I don't know where they were taken,"
said Vipin, who works in Mumbai but has extended his stay in Delhi for 20
days to support Hazare.
Outside the Tughlaq Road police station, people
sat on the road, singing and beating drums.
"The main agenda was to reach the PM's
residence. But since the police are not allowing any movement, we are all
getting together at one point to protest," said Santosh Shukla, a property
dealer from Dwarka.
