Scroll’s Ayush Tiwari, Shoaib Daniyal detained in Delhi, Divya Aslesha in Pune during CEC protests

Journalists covering protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar were detained in Delhi, Pune and Ahmedabad. The detentions affected reporters from several outlets, including Scroll, Newslaundry, The Quint, Reuters, Alt News and others. The incident matters because reporters were detained while performing a public-information role.

In Delhi, Scroll’s Ayush Tiwari was detained near ITO despite displaying his press card. Shoaib Daniyal was detained near CR Park while waiting for a taxi. In Pune, Divya Aslesha was detained near Shaniwar Wada. Ahmedabad police detained Alt News correspondent Kinjal for more than three hours.

Other journalists were also detained, including reporters from Navbharat Times, Reuters, Boom Live, Molitics and Reporter TV. Boom Live’s Jagriti Trisha was held for three hours and released far from the detention site. Reporter TV journalists Roshni Rajan and Farza TM were allegedly dragged away. The Committee to Protect Journalists called for releases and an investigation into alleged abuse.

Detention means police temporarily prevent a person from leaving or moving freely. It can happen while officers establish identity, maintain control at an event or investigate suspected wrongdoing. Detention does not automatically mean the person has been formally charged with a crime.

Arrest is usually a formal legal step connected to an alleged offence. An arrested person enters a defined legal process, which can include being informed of the grounds, appearing before a court and facing possible charges. The exact rules differ by country and situation, so the terms should not be treated as identical.

In this article, the police are described as detaining journalists, not arresting them. Ayush Tiwari was put into a van, while Sarthak Jaiswal was taken to Chanakyapuri Police Station. The Committee to Protect Journalists called for the journalists’ immediate release, the return of equipment and investigation of alleged physical abuse.

The article names 17 detained journalists and media workers in total. They were identified in Delhi, Pune and Ahmedabad. This count includes every individual explicitly named as detained, from Scroll’s journalists to reporters and media workers from other organisations.

The Delhi group included Ayush Tiwari, Shoaib Daniyal, four Newslaundry reporters, two Navbharat Times journalists, Sarthak Jaiswal, Saurabh Sharma, Jagriti Trisha, Amaan, Shivang Shukla, Roshni Rajan and Farza TM. Divya Aslesha was detained in Pune. Alt News correspondent Kinjal was detained in Ahmedabad.

The article also reports different treatment and detention periods. Jagriti Trisha was detained for three hours, while Kinjal was held for more than three hours. Some journalists showed press cards or identified themselves as media workers. The Committee to Protect Journalists said it was still working to identify other detained journalists and media workers, so the named total may not represent everyone detained.

The protests called for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign. Organisers and protesters raised concerns about how the Election Commission was functioning. They also objected to the commission’s handling of the special intensive revision of electoral rolls, a process involving voter lists.

The demonstrations were organised by the Cockroach Janta Party political campaign and student groups affiliated with Left parties. Protests had taken place in several parts of the country in recent weeks. The Delhi protest at Jantar Mantar was expected to begin at 10 am, but police denied permission.

Ahead of the demonstration, police imposed restrictions intended to deter people from gathering in the national capital. Organisers described the measures as intimidation. The article does not provide detailed examples of alleged errors in the voter lists or explain specific decisions by the Election Commission. It reports the broader concerns and the demand for Kumar’s resignation.

A special intensive revision of electoral rolls is a concentrated process for reviewing and updating official voter lists. Electoral rolls determine whose names are recorded as eligible voters. The article links this process to the Election Commission and says protesters objected to how it was being handled.

Changes to voter lists can become politically controversial because they may affect who can participate in elections. Removing an eligible person, failing to add a qualified person or changing records incorrectly could limit voting access. Large revisions can also create concerns about fairness, transparency and whether different communities or political interests are affected unevenly.

The article does not give detailed rules for the revision or identify specific names removed from lists. It states that protests occurred in several parts of the country over concerns about the Election Commission’s functioning and its handling of the revision. Those concerns formed part of the demand for Kumar’s resignation, alongside broader criticism of the commission.

Journalists help the public see what happens during protests, especially when events involve police restrictions, detentions or alleged abuse. Preventing coverage can reduce the information available to citizens and make it harder to compare official accounts with eyewitness reporting. That matters for public accountability.

This article gives concrete examples. Ayush Tiwari said he repeatedly identified himself as a journalist, but police detained him anyway. Roshni Rajan and Farza TM were allegedly dragged away. The Committee to Protect Journalists called for the return of equipment, investigation of physical-abuse reports and permission for the press to cover demonstrations without interference.

If reporters cannot work, the public may hear fewer independent accounts of protest demands and police conduct. Officials may face less immediate scrutiny, while alleged mistreatment becomes harder to document. The article does not establish the final outcome of every detention, but media groups called for releases and described the actions as intimidation and an assault on press freedom.

Freedom of expression lets people voice criticism and demands. Peaceful assembly lets them gather publicly around shared concerns. An independent press helps citizens learn what officials and institutions do. Together, these freedoms allow disagreement, scrutiny and participation rather than leaving public decisions unobserved.

The article connects these principles directly to the protests. Digipub News India Foundation said peaceful assembly and freedom of expression were constitutional rights. It also said detaining reporters despite press credentials amounted to intimidation and an assault on press freedom and constitutional rights. The Committee to Protect Journalists called a free and independent press essential to democracy.

These protections matter in the current dispute because journalists were covering demonstrations about the Election Commission and voter-roll revision. If reporting is obstructed, citizens may have less information about both protesters’ concerns and police conduct. The article records demands for journalists’ release and continued access, but does not state how authorities ultimately responded.