New Delhi: Several journalists, including those who displayed their identity cards clearly, were detained while they were reporting on Saturday’s protest and security arrangements in the city Saturday.Press cards around their necks and cameras in hand, two NBT journalists, Ritik Joshi and Rahul Charas, were surrounded by police personnel near Minto Bridge. They repeatedly identified themselves as journalists and showed their identity cards but were bundled into a bus along with protesters and taken to Maurice Nagar police station.“Around 11am, I left my office in ITO with my colleague Rahul Charas. We had deliberately decided to wear white T-shirts/shirts so that police personnel, who had been on duty in the sun since morning, could spot the red identity cards hanging around our necks,” Joshi said.Joshi said they encountered several barricades while they made their way towards Minto Bridge. “A heavy police contingent had been deployed and the road had been barricaded, making it impossible to proceed towards Connaught Place. Just then, we spotted a group of protesters approaching from the New Delhi railway station side, raising slogans. We took out our camera and rushed to record the scene. By the time we reached them, only a handful of protesters remained. The others had either been put into buses or had quickly fled. Rahul was recording a video… when a police officer ran towards him and grabbed his arm. We showed the press identity cards hanging around our necks and repeatedly told the officer that we were journalists,” he said.“However, it made no difference. Instead, the officer said in an intimidating tone, ‘Come quietly and get detained, or go home’.The police personnel then began forcing Rahul into the bus. Meanwhile, another officer approached me and said, ‘Get in quietly. We won’t say anything’. We were made to sit in the bus. We informed our office about the incident. Soon afterwards, we received a call from a senior police officer, who also spoke to the personnel taking us away. We were assured that we would be released on the way and told not to worry., Joshi added.The two were then taken to Maurice Nagar police station. As soon as the bus reached the police station, the protesters jumped out the windows and fled. It was then that the police allowed the two to leave.Rahul Charas said, “I showed them my identity card and told them I was only doing my job. Perhaps they did not like what I said. I tried to show them my identity card again, but they used force, pushed me and made me board the bus.”Another journalist, who works with a newspaper, said he walked from ITO to Mandi House around 2pm. “There was only a small group of mediapersons and lawyers there. The lawyers were the only ones to whom cops showed some respect. Other protesters were bundled into buses the moment they were spotted. Although media persons were being allowed to move around, they were being threatened not to make videos,” the journalist said.“My phone was snatched by some Rapid Action Force personnel who were resting. They also ripped the press tag around my neck. They were offended that I’d made a video of them resting and made me delete that video. Later, they saw me recording again and pushed me into a waiting bus. But a Delhi Police officer saw my card and let me go,” he added.Two journalists who work with Scroll were also detained. While one of them, Ayush Tiwari, was detained from central Delhi, Scroll’s political editor Shoaib Daniyal, was picked up from near CR Park.
