Bengaluru Police Face Outrage Over Assault on Journalists & Dragging of Anti-SIR Protesters
Chaotic scenes unfolded near Bengaluru's KR Circle on Monday as city police launched a heavy-handed crackdown on a peaceful demonstration organized by civil society groups, students, legal advocates, and academics marching toward the Chief Electoral Officer's office. Demonstrators operating under the banner of the "My Vote, My Right" forum had assembled to protest the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and express solidarity with activists recently detained in New Delhi, demanding the rollback of the revision process and the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The incident quickly triggered intense political embarrassment for the ruling Congress administration in Karnataka, as the police action occurred simultaneously while Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and state ministers were staging demonstrations in the national capital against the very same electoral roll issues and central police conduct.
Plainclothes Cops, Snatched Phones: Media Targeted During Detention Drive
The confrontation escalated dramatically outside SJP College, barely a kilometer from Freedom Park, where plainclothes personnel reportedly swooped in on protesters before the planned rally could even step off. Witnesses and activist groups reported that officers forcibly confiscated placards, physically dragged participants across the pavement, and shoved them into waiting transport buses. Severe criticism was directed at the deployment after eyewitnesses noted an acute shortage of female personnel, alleging that male police officers manhandled young female protesters. The clampdown extended directly to media personnel covering the event; photojournalists capturing the forceful detentions were reportedly cornered, shoved to the ground, and assaulted. One photojournalist was allegedly beaten by four officers, while others had their mobile devices seized and thrown after refusing demands to delete video footage, with at least one senior officer threatening scribes with immediate incarceration. Prominent rights advocates—including All India Lawyers Association for Justice (AILAJ) National General Secretary Clifton Rozario and advocate Vinay Srinivasa—were among those assaulted and bundled into custody before being transported to the CAR grounds for temporary detention.
Backlash Engulfs State Government as Police Invoke Freedom Park Restrictions
The high-handed handling of students and journalists ignited widespread outrage across digital platforms, placing the Karnataka government under severe scrutiny from intellectuals and civil liberties defenders. Academic figures, including Ashoka University writing professor Arpita Das, publicly questioned senior party leaders on social media regarding why youth supporting democratic voter rights were facing forceful detention under a Congress-led dispensation, while digital rights commentators openly criticized the local police force's aggressive posture. Addressing the escalating row, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Akshay M. Hakay stated that the gathering near KR Circle had assembled without mandatory administrative permissions. The police administration asserted that officers had repeatedly directed the crowd to relocate to the officially designated demonstration zone at Freedom Park in accordance with Karnataka High Court guidelines. Police officials maintained that the preventive detentions were executed to prevent civic disruption and claimed that the physical altercations with working journalists were unintended scuffles that broke out amid intense operational chaos on the ground.
