A roughly 10-foot barricade had come up overnight at Jantar Mantar, and hundreds of police personnel with several vehicles had taken position at the protest site by 9 am on Saturday – a scene starkly different from the one Newslaundry’s team had witnessed the previous evening. The change followed the early-morning detention and removal of activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike at the site since June 28.
Multiple protesters and witnesses alleged that police shoved, beat, and verbally abused those who tried to intervene during the operation. Some alleged being dragged, struck, or having a phone that was recording the incident snatched and smashed by the Delhi Police. The Delhi Police has not responded to these specific allegations of violence.
