Member and students of alternative law forum and students protest against SIR were detained journalists who were filming were attacked near SJP college in Bengaluru on Monday.
Advocate Vinay Sreenivasa told TOI : “They used force and detained several of us and released us at the CAR (City Armed Reserve) grounds.
Police began detaining them before the march could begin, according to activist group My Vote, My Right. The group said police confiscated placards. Police personnel were seen beating up young protesters and pulling at the clothes of women protesters, the group said. A photojournalist said police assaulted a group of students and objected when journalists tried to record the action. When he continued filming, an officer told him to delete the footage. He was pulled by the collar, pushed and hit on the leg, according to his account. The photojournalist said there were few women police personnel present as male officers handled the protesters. When contacted, a senior police officer said: “We’ll inquire into what happened and decide the next course of action.”
Some students waiting for the bus were chased away. Protesters were pushed, dragged and forcibly taken away in buses. One photojournalist was pushed to the ground after police grabbed his phone and threw it aside. An officer threatened to put him in jail. The journalists were attempting to document police personnel pushing and pulling women protesters.
Bengaluru: On a day Karnataka chief minister DK Shivakumar and home minister Priyank Kharge protested against Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and police action against protesters in Delhi, police in Bengaluru detained dozens of protesters and assaulted photojournalists covering the action on Monday.
My Vote, My Right said it had been demanding the withdrawal of SIR since Oct 2025, arguing that the exercise could lead to mass disenfranchisement.
The detentions in Bengaluru drew criticism on social media, including from people who said their family members had been taken away. “My daughter and her friend who went to join anti-SIR protests in Bangalore have just been detained. Why is this happening in a Congress-ruled state even when the young step out in support of your cause? Please respond,” Arpita Das, associate professor of writing at Ashoka University, posted on X, tagging Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge.