Thursday morning, the Delhi Police heavily deployed security personnel at Jantar Mantar,
the scene of an altercation between protesting wrestlers and some police officers that left a
few demonstrators with head injuries. There are several layers of barricades surrounding
the protest venue, and no one is permitted inside.
It comes after when wrestlers urged farmers and their leaders to gather at the protest site
on Thursday morning.
An official who wished to remain anonymous said that police are also stopping vehicles at
city border crossings in order to prevent a sizable gathering at Jantar Mantar.
A brawl apparently broke out at the Jantar Mantar here between the protesting wrestlers
and some police officers, resulting in a few protestors suffering head injuries. The wrestlers
have claimed that the police officers mistreated them.
Rahul Yadav and Dushyant Phogat, two wrestlers, were also hurt, according to the
protesters. Phogat has suffered head trauma.
Police apprehended two people who had been at the scene to support the wrestlers on
Wednesday late at night: Dipendra Hooda, a Rajya Sabha member, and Swati Maliwal, the
head of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW).
Since April 23, the wrestlers have been holding a sit-in at Jantar Mantar. They have accused
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and a UP
representative for the Bharatiya Jantar Party (BJP), of sexual harassment.
Some of the protesters can be heard accusing a police officer of attacking two wrestlers
while intoxicated in a video that is going around on social media.
In the video, the accused police officer can be seen sitting, despite the protester’s claims
that their colleagues were passive bystanders.