New Delhi: CPI(M) leader John Brittas was injured after Delhi Police personnel allegedly manhandled him during Sunday's protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, with the Rajya Sabha MP being taken to the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital for an X-ray and a medical examination.
Brittas was physically lifted by police personnel during his detention. A video shared by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] showed him collapsing on the steps of a bus, following which he was taken to the hospital for an examination to check for possible chest injuries.
After the incident, Brittas wrote to President Droupadi Murmu, the Rajya Sabha chairman and the chief justice of India seeking urgent intervention, accountability and an independent investigation into the alleged police assault.
In identical letters to the three constitutional authorities, Brittas alleged that he was dragged for around 50 metres by Delhi Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel while he was peacefully interacting with journalists in the Connaught Place area, forcibly lifted into a police vehicle, assaulted inside it and subsequently, abandoned on the roadside.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, the chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, condemned the alleged mistreatment of Brittas and called for an investigation.
"This is appalling. @JohnBrittas is a respected Parliamentarian and a valued and active member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs. As its chair, I condemn the mistreatment of a distinguished Member and call on the @DelhiPolice to investigate the incident. There are standards of policing in a democracy that must be upheld!" the former Union minister said in a post on X.
This is appalling. @JohnBrittas is a respected Parliamentarian and a valued and active member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs. As its chair, I condemn the mistreatment of a distinguished Member and call on the @DelhiPolice to investigate the incident. There are standards of policing in a democracy that must be upheld!
According to the letter, Brittas reached the area around 12.30 pm after learning that young activists were being assaulted and detained. He alleged that police personnel continued to manhandle him despite repeated assertions by him and journalists that he is a member of Parliament, and assaulted him inside the vehicle even after he identified himself.
Brittas said he was released following instructions from a deputy commissioner of police, who found the detention unlawful. He said he continued to experience physical pain and discomfort after the incident.
The MP has sought a court-supervised independent probe by a special investigation team comprising officers unconnected with the personnel involved or by another independent agency. He has also called for the preservation of video recordings, vehicle identification and movement details, deployment records, duty rosters and other evidence, besides seeking protection for witnesses, journalists and bystanders.
Referring to the Supreme Court's directions earlier in the day concerning the handling of protests in Delhi, Brittas said the timing of the incident raises questions about whether constitutional safeguards on peaceful expression and personal liberty are being respected.
CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) M P Manoj Jha visited Brittas at the RML Hospital.
In a post on X, the CPI(M) alleged that Brittas was "brutally attacked" by the Delhi Police and subsequently, left by the roadside in an injured and distressed condition.
"Delhi Police has crossed all limits," the Left party said.
Baby, after visiting Brittas, accused the Delhi Police of assaulting student and youth activists detained during the protest, alleging that police vehicles were turned into "torture camps".
"Scores of student and youth activists, including SFI President Adarsh M Saji and DYFI CEC member Jaick C Thomas, were assaulted inside police vehicles," he said in a post on X.
Baby also alleged that women protesters were attacked and detained for hours inside police vehicles.
"The police have turned Delhi into a war zone," he said, adding that the action would not deter those demanding Kumar's removal.
Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Brittas said in a post on X, "Modi and Shah will pay a heavy price for this. The Delhi Police have become mad dogs."
In another post, he said the protesters would not retreat even if they were dragged through the streets, beaten with lathis or trampled with boots, asserting that the agitation to reclaim democracy would continue.
Before being detained, Brittas had said the Modi government has lost the moral right to continue in office for allegedly refusing to heed the Supreme Court's words.
"Every bloodshed on Delhi streets will have repercussions on this government," he said, adding that Shah should step down from the home minister's post.
The detention took place as protesters gathered in central Delhi for a second consecutive day to demand Kumar's resignation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll.
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which had called for the protest at Jantar Mantar, vowed to continue the agitation after police prevented demonstrators from reaching the designated protest site on Saturday.