All-night CAA vigil at Bengaluru's Town Hall fails to take off

Attempts by anti-CAA activists to extend the three-hour protest at Town Hall into an all-night affair failed to take off amid accusations of police brutality on Saturday. 

Two people were detained for refusing to vacate the place after 8 pm but were released soon after. Initially, a small group of 10 activists had hoped to read the Constitution at the venue following the end of the main anti-CAA protest at 7 pm on Saturday night. These plans were stalled after police denied them permission to do so. 

Tenuous negotiations with police led to a compromise: The group would be allowed to carry out the reading on the condition that they tack on their programme to the end of the main anti-CAA rally. 

The problem allegedly began after this small group of activists concluded their reading programme at about 7.45 pm. 

By 8 pm, however, DH was informed that a group of stalwarts who had decided to carry out an all-night protest at the site were being forcibly ejected from the Town Hall premises and that four individuals had been taken into custody by SJ Park police. SJ Park police denied this claim. “No such thing happened. Once the individuals left after concluding their reading of the Constitution, we had four individuals who declared their intention to sit on the steps of Town Hall and continue to read and sing the anthem,” he said. “So we left them there.”