Sreenivasan Jain posted a shaky video, his finger pointing to a police van as reporters were shoved inside. Vedanta Agarwal, the PeekTV co‑founder, described his cameraman's arm being twisted as the pair were dragged in, a bruise visible on the shoulder. The vans were dubbed 'special detention vehicles' by the officers, a term unused in any prior press briefings.
Earlier that day, the Supreme Court, through Justice Ranjan Gogoi, issued an order explicitly permitting media personnel to cover the protest and forbidding their detention. The order, a rare public statement on press freedom, came after a petition filed by the Delhi Press Council and the Editors Guild.
Saurabh Shukla, co‑founder of The Red Mike, tweeted that police had inspected his press ID, photographed it, and still moved him to a van. Editors from The Hindu, Hindustan Times, and The Indian Express have collectively demanded an independent inquiry, citing repeated violations in past Delhi protests.
The Delhi Police have been directed to submit a detailed report to the Supreme Court within 48 hours. Meanwhile, press bodies are urging the court to schedule a hearing on the legality of the police action, with many journalists calling for a broader review of police protocols at public assemblies.