Was within restrictions when police, CRPF personnel pounced on me: Brittas on Oct 11 'assault'

NEW DELHI: CPI(M) MP John Brittas on Monday said he was speaking to the media within the restrictions imposed by the Delhi Police when its and CRPF personnel allegedly manhandled him during the protest on October 11 against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Brittas was detained while speaking to journalists in the Connaught Place area on Sunday, amid a police crackdown on protesters demanding the resignation of Kumar over alleged irregularities in the conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

He was subsequently taken to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital for an X-ray and medical examination.

The CPI(M) MP later alleged that he was dragged for around 50 metres, assaulted inside a police vehicle and abandoned on the roadside. The incident triggered condemnation from opposition leaders, with Brittas seeking an independent probe into the alleged assault.

"I was merely speaking to the media without flouting any of the Delhi Police restrictions. I was well away from the barricades and did not even speak to any police officer. I was alone and strictly within the prohibitory numbers. I am still at a loss as to why the police and CRPF pounced on me," Brittas said in a post on X on Monday.

"All of this is clearly visible on video, as almost all the media were present at the time," the Rajya Sabha MP said.

CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby alleged that Brittas was assaulted despite not having participated in the protest and questioned the conduct of police and other security personnel.

"He did not participate in the struggle yesterday. He went to Connaught Place. What was happening?" Baby said, referring to the circumstances in which Brittas was detained.

"The police and various forces behaved as though they were carrying out orders of the RSS. RSS people are also in various parts of the city," he alleged.

The CPI(M) general secretary said Brittas was taken to hospital after the incident and alleged that CPI(M) MPs A A Rahim and V Sivadasan were also badly beaten up. He added that he and party leader Brinda Karat were also taken away by police.

In a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan and Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Brittas sought urgent intervention, accountability and an independent investigation into the alleged assault.

He claimed that the Delhi Police and CRPF personnel dragged him for around 50 metres while he was interacting with journalists in the Connaught Place area, forcibly lifted him into a police vehicle and assaulted him inside it before abandoning him on the roadside.

Brittas said he had reached the area around 12.30 pm after learning that young activists were being assaulted and detained. He alleged that the personnel continued to manhandle him despite being told that he was an MP and that journalists were present.

The MP sought a court-supervised independent probe and preservation of video recordings, vehicle details, deployment records and other evidence related to the incident.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, has also condemned the alleged mistreatment of Brittas and called for an investigation.