Ahmedabad, Oct. 10 -- Political and social activists, including those associated with the youth wings of the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party, have alleged detention or house arrest by the Ahmedabad Police ahead of the CJP's protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.
In a related development, the Western Railway on Friday cancelled the Swarna Jayanti Rajdhani Express train from Ahmedabad to New Delhi, an official said.
Some of the activists claimed that they were detained or placed under house arrest on Friday ahead of the CJP protest in Delhi for the ouster of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Ahmedabad Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot said on Saturday that actions were taken as needed, adding that nobody is under detention currently.
Activist Dev Desai alleged he had been under house arrest from Friday morning to early Saturday.
"I was kept under house arrest until this morning. Police were stationed outside my home since Friday morning. They left on Saturday morning. I had no plans to go to Delhi, but the action was taken against us simply because we are activists," he claimed.
Theatre director Savan Zalariya claimed that police visited the homes of some students and questioned whether they were planning to join the CJP protest in Delhi or organise a demonstration here.
"Police personnel visited my home, asked a few questions, and left. They suspected I might be planning to go to Delhi. They asked about minor details and left. I had no such plan (to travel to Delhi).
"Policemen visited homes of several students who were previously detained in connection with the protests to question them. They are randomly checking whether or not these students are heading to Delhi," Zalariya claimed.
Meanwhile, the Student and Youth Collective group has called for a protest on Saturday evening to express solidarity with the CJP, with activists from several youth political groups such as NSUI, SYCA, SFI, RDMA, AIMSS, etc. planning to join in.
Protests have also been planned in Vadodara by the student collective group.
An official of the Ahmedabad division of the Western Railway said that the Swarna Jayanti Rajdhani Express train from Ahmedabad to New Delhi was cancelled Friday as a precautionary measure.
The Cockroach Janta Party has called for a demonstration at Jantar Mantar against CEC Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of voter-list manipulation during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and changes relating to Form 6, used for voter registration.
The CJP on Saturday claimed that its leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained from inside the aircraft by Delhi Police as soon as their flight landed in the national capital.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.