Delhi Police detain journalists despite press cards during protest crackdown
CPJ, Digipub demand release of reporters, including Reuters journalist
New Delhi: Delhi Police have detained several journalists, including reporters from independent media outlets and international news agency Reuters, as part of a mass crackdown on protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, drawing calls for their immediate release from press freedom organisations.The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Digipub, a collective of digital news platforms, have called on Delhi Police to immediately release all detained journalists.
In the days leading up to the protests, Delhi Police had issued a controversial set of guidelines for journalists, directing reporters working on the ground to display their press cards prominently. However, on October 10, police disregarded press credentials and detained several journalists despite their identifying themselves as media personnel.
The Quint published a video showing journalists inside detention buses despite displaying their press cards. The organisation’s journalist Sarthak Jaiswal was also detained.
The Scroll’s Executive Editor Supriya Sharma said on X that its reporter Ayush Tiwari had been detained despite showing his press card. Hours later, the outlet’s political editor, Shoaib Daniyal, was also detained from C.R. Park. “He was not even in Central Delhi,” Sharma wrote.
Three Newslaundry reporters — Anmol Pritam, Ashwine Kumar Singh and Astha Savyasachi — were also detained by Delhi Police, according to a statement issued by the news organisation.
“Delhi Police have also seized Newslaundry’s official phones, which our reporters were using to carry out their reporting duties. When the journalists identified themselves as media personnel, they were reportedly told, ‘Koi media nahin hai’,” the statement said.
“Around 30 people have been put into a single bus, including protesters and journalists. Our reporters have identified Inspector Dhan Singh Malik as the officer who snatched the phones,” it added.
Journalist Shyam Meera Singh shared a video showing that journalists covering or recording police detentions were themselves being detained.
Delhi Police also detained Navbharat Times journalists Hritik Joshi and Rahul Charas while they were working and were taking them to Dariyaganj, the newspaper’s editor, Ashish Pandey, said in a post on X.
“They misbehaved with Rahul too,” Pandey wrote.
Reuters journalist Saurabh Sharma was also detained by Delhi Police on Friday (October 10) while covering the protests.
