Multiple people were detained after around 300 protesters gathered at Connaught Place’s outer circle in Delhi on Sunday to protest against caste-based reservation, officials said.
The protesters were also demanding reforms in the quota system, officials said.
The gathering was cleared from the protest site, while the police maintained a presence at the Connaught Place. The police then advised citizens not to gather on the basis of such posts or videos and not to forward, share or amplify unverified content The police in a statement earlier today said prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which replaced Section 144 of the CrPC, were in force in New Delhi district.
Because no permission had been granted for the agitation, police reportedly said, over 20 people, who had gathered for the stir at Connaught Place, were detained and removed from the site.
The agitation took place under the banner of “Reservation Hatao Andolan” – an Instagram-based page with around 5.6 million followers – which had called on its followers to join a protest in Delhi after building an online campaign around reservation reforms. They said that in accordance to this, protest marches, processions, demonstrations and assemblies of five or more persons were prohibited in the area. Earlier today, the Delhi Police said no permission was granted to any individual or organisation to hold a protest or gathering at Jantar Mantar over reservation reforms.
