At least 14 students from Pune enroute to Delhi for CJP protest detained at Itarsi

After being deboarded at Itarsi, the students were taken to a premises known as The Park Club and Resort.

At least 14 students travelling from Pune to Delhi to take part in the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest on October 10 were detained by the Madhya Pradesh Government Railway Police (GRP) at Itarsi on Friday, after being taken off the Goa Express. The students are reportedly members of the All India Students Federation (AISF), the New Students and Youth Federation (NSYF) and the Resist, Reclaim, Rebuild (RRR) campaign, officials said.

The CJP has called a protest at Jantar Mantar on Saturday to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

According to AISF members, a group of around 25-30 students boarded the Goa Express at Pune Railway Station at about 4.30 am on Friday.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Advocate Namokar More, who was travelling in a different coach, said, “After one of the students posted on Instagram that the group was headed to Delhi, two women GRP or Railway Protection Force (RPF) or police personnel in civil dress entered the student’s coach and sat near them.”

“The students did not suspect anything at first, but she was there to identify where they were sitting and that they were heading to the protest,” More said. He added that the personnel first tried to make the students deboard at Bhusawal but could not, as the students resisted what they called an illegal arrest. The GRP then detained them at Itarsi.

Mumbai-based AISF member Azharuddin Shaikh said another group from the same contingent travelled in a different coach, and did not post videos online. They went unnoticed and reached Delhi safely. Shaikh himself reached Delhi on Thursday and so avoided detention. He also claimed that police were checking hotels near Jantar Mantar on Friday to find out whether any protestors were staying there.

After being deboarded at Itarsi, the students were taken to a premises known as The Park Club and Resort. AISF members alleged that they were held there without any clear explanation.

Story continues below this ad

“When students asked on whose orders and on what grounds our comrades were being detained, the police said the orders came from the ‘Home Ministry’,” Shaikh said.

A legal team representing the students then approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court and filed a habeas corpus petition, seeking production of those allegedly held unlawfully. The petition was filed by the students’ family members, amid fears that the detainees could be shifted from the resort to another location.

Advocate Prerna Singanjude, a state committee member of AISF, was among those who spoke about the incident.

On Friday, the High Court issued notices to the State and police authorities and asked them to produce the students before it on or before October 13. It also directed the authorities to make arrangements for the students’ safe return to their families.

Story continues below this ad

Several videos, including some showing police forcibly removing students from the train, have gone viral on social media.

Reacting to detentions across the country, the CJP said on X: Detaining, arresting and beating people for a protest that hasn’t even begun yet? The chaos this government has unleashed will shake the very thrones it sits on, sooner than they think.”

The AISF also condemned the detention on X. “Detention won’t silence us… Onwards 10th Oct!” the organisation wrote.