A group of anti-CAA protestors arrested here on Saturday night have alleged that they were ill-treated by the police during detention.
Police detained 10 women and 18 men, including a journalist from Mallepally in the heart of the city during a flash protest.
Those arrested including women were kept at Central Crime Station (CCS). The youths, including two minors, spent the night in the cold on the floor at the entrance of the building.
They were released on Sunday after 15-hour detention and only after they were booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for rioting, wrongful restraint, assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty and disobedience to order promulgated by public servant.
Shiba Minai, one of the protestors detained by the police, told IANS that the police beat up a young boy who is regular at all the protests against Citizenship Amendment Act.
She said the arrested boys were forced to spend the night out in the cold. “They were without food for the whole night. There were mosquitoes all around. They were treated badly with policemen repeatedly pushing them and shouting at them,” she said.
Minai said the police were trying to suppress the protests through this high-handedness. “They are denying permission for protests and when we are conducting peaceful flash protests they are resorting to high-handedness,” she said.
Mubashiruddin Khurram, a journalist with Urdu daily ‘Siasat’, was also detained by the police. He said he was at there to cover the protest but police forcibly picked up him saying he was behind the protest.
The journalist said he was kept at the office of West Zone Task Force. He said two boys were kept in the lock-up and were treated badly.
He said four teams of officials questioned him and wanted to know why he was tweeting from protest venues.
Khurram took strong exception to some comments made and questioned asked by the police officers. “One of them was saying why do you want to protest against CAA. What is wrong in NRC and NPR. You people have 50 countries. When I raised an objection he changed the topic,” he said.
The journalist said the police questioned him for being active on Twitter and also for being seen with Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad during the latter’s visit to the city.
Activist Khalida Parveen said they were arrested despite the peaceful protest. “Except raising slogans, we did nothing but the police still detained us,” she said. The activist found fault with the police behavior saying to protest is their democratic right.
