Chaotic scenes unfolded on Saturday morning at the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest site as activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is on an indefinite hunger strike, was taken to the Safdarjung Hospital by the Delhi Police.
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While the police said the hospitalisation was undertaken as per a Delhi High Court order on monitoring Wangchuk’s health, CJP’s Abhijeet Dipke claimed the climate activist was “taken away forcefully”. Track live updates on CJP protest chaos
Some students also claimed they were lathicharged at the protest site.
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Wangchuk has been on a hunger strike for the last 21 days in support of students protesting to demand Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over irregularities in competitive examinations, including NEET that had to be cancelled over paper leak scam.
In a statement, the Delhi Police said that Wangchuk was being taken to Delhi’s Safdarjung hospital in view of his deteriorating health condition.
“As per orders of Hon’ble High Court and on expert medical advise due to the deteriorating health condition of Sh. Sonam Wangchuk, he has been shifted to the hospital for essential medical care. While complying with the orders of Hon’ble High Court the protestors tried to create obstruction, in which slight commotion ensued, however police took maximum restrain and undertook the exercise safely. We request the protestors at Jantar Mantar to peacefully vacate the place at the earliest,” the Delhi Police said in a statement.
Sharma denied that police beat up Dipke or any protesters and that they were only trying to remove Wangchuk from the protest site.
Meanwhile, Abhijeet Dipke said that he was beaten up and put under detention by the Delhi Police. “I have been beaten up and put under detention by Delhi Police,” Dipke wrote on X. In another post he alleged that the police was is cracking down at the CJP protest at Jantar Mantar and people were being beaten there.
The CJP protesters at Jantar Mantar alleged that the police personnel arrived at the site and claimed to be a medical team. They ordered the volunteers to move aside, a protester was quoted as saying by ANI.
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“Early in the morning, they sent in about ten police officers, claiming they were a medical team. We realized they were police since they didn’t look like doctors and they ordered all the volunteers to move aside. We kept requesting them to wait, but suddenly they announced that there was a High Court order requiring them to take Sonam Sir away. Meanwhile, Abhijit had just went away to use the restroom; I believe they have arrested him too which is why he cannot come here, and his phone isn’t connecting either…All the policemen were in plainclothes,” the protester said.
Meanwhile, late on Friday night, Abhijeet Dipke alleged that Wangchuk was attacked at the protest site in Jantar Mantar.
His health parameters on Friday showed his weight at 56.55 kg, a reduction of 350 grams in 24 hours. His blood pressure was recorded at 108/68, blood sugar at 70 mg/dL and pulse rate at 72 per minute, according to Dr Satish Lamba of the Delhi Medical Association.
Several Opposition leaders visited Wangchuk at Jantar Mantar on Friday to express solidarity and enquire about his health. Among those who met him were Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) MP Supriya Sule, SP MP Dimple Yadav, Congress leader Pawan Khera and Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray.
With inputs from Jignasa Sinha
