Scroll journalists Ayush Tiwari and Shoaib Daniyal were detained in Delhi, and Divya Aslesha in Pune on Saturday while covering protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Journalists from Newslaundry, The Quint, the Navbharat Times, Reuters, Alt News, Boom Live, Molitics and Reporter TV were also detained.

Tiwari was detained near ITO. He was not at the Jantar Mantar protest site and had prominently displayed his press card. Tiwari told the police several times that he was a journalist, but he was put into a van and taken away.

“I literally shouted out to say I am a journalist,” Tiwari said. “But the police said everyone is claiming to be a journalist.”

Daniyal, Scroll’s political editor, was detained by the police near CR Park, which is not in central Delhi. He was detained while waiting for a taxi.

Aslesha was detained near Pune’s Shaniwar Wada, despite showing her press card.

From Newslaundry, reporters Anmol Pritam, Ashwine Kumar Singh, Astha Savyasachi and Anshu Gupta were detained, the news outlet stated.

When the journalists identified themselves as members of the media, they were purportedly told: “Koi media nahin hai (No one is the media).”

Two journalists with the Navbharat Times, Hritik Joshi and Rahul Charas, were also detained while they were reporting, the newspaper’s Editor Ashish Pandey said on social media.

“They misbehaved with Rahul too,” Pandey said. “Our team was carrying clear and visible media ID cards.”

The Quint’s journalist Sarthak Jaiswal was detained and taken to Chanakyapuri Police Station earlier in the day, the news outlet reported.

The Delhi Police have also detained journalist Saurabh Sharma, who works with Reuters.

Boom Live reporter Jagriti Trisha was detained for three hours. She was released far away from the location from where she was detained, the organisation’s Managing Editor Jency Jacob said.

Molitics reporter Amaan was also detained despite him telling the police that he is a journalist. Videos of his detention were shared by other journalists online.

Shivang Shukla, a creator with Mo, a digital video brand of India Today, was also detained.

Roshni Rajan and Farza TM, two women journalists covering the protests for Malayalam news channel Reporter TV, were allegedly dragged away by the police.

Alt News’ senior correspondent Kinjal was detained by the police in Ahmedabad for more than three hours.

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Global media watchdog seeks journalists’ release

The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Delhi Police to immediately release all detained journalists and media professionals, return their equipment, investigate reports of physical abuse and allow the press to cover the demonstrations without interference.

“A free and independent press is essential to a democracy,” the global media watchdog said on social media.

The committee said it was closely monitoring the situation and confirmed the detention of Scroll and Newslaundry journalists. “We are working to identify other detained journalists and media workers,” it added.

Digipub News India Foundation, an association of independent digital news organisations and journalists of which Scroll is a member, also demanded the journalists’ immediate release.

The association condemned the “arbitrary and authoritarian action” taken by the Delhi Police, saying that detaining reporters despite their press credentials amounted to “intimidation” and was “an assault on press freedom and constitutional rights”.

“Journalism is not a crime, and neither is protest,” it said, adding that the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression were constitutional rights.

“If the powerful cannot withstand being watched and challenged, the fault lies in their conduct, not in our cameras or the people’s voices,” it added.

The protest at Jantar Mantar has been organised by the Cockroach Janta Party political campaign and student groups affiliated to the Left parties.

In recent weeks, protests have been held in several parts of the country calling for Kumar to resign over concerns about the functioning of the Election Commission and its handling of the special intensive revision of electoral rolls.

The demonstrations were expected to begin at 10 am, according to the organisers.

The police have denied permission for the protest.

Ahead of the demonstration, the police imposed several restrictions to deter protesters from gathering in the national capital, in what the organisers described as intimidation by the authorities. The measures include detaining persons, cancelling trains, closing 45 metro stations and suspending mobile internet in central Delhi.

Hundreds of protesters and political leaders were detained by the police on Saturday from across the city.

Cockroach Janta Party leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained from inside an aircraft shortly after they arrived in Delhi. YouTuber Dhruv Rathee and the campaign’s legal affairs head Ratna Singh were detained from other locations in the national capital.

Edited by Sara Varghese, Sneha and Nachiket Deuskar.

Follow updates of the protest at Jantar Mantar here.

Follow Scroll’s coverage of the special intensive revision of electoral rolls here.