Police collecting phone numbers, asking us to go home: Anti-CAA protesters

The continuous protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) being held at Tannery Road has allegedly prompted law enforcement officers to adopt novel methods to try to evict protesters.

Protesters claimed that the police were calling up residents taking part in the protest and asking them to go home. The phone numbers of several protesters and community leaders had been collected by a member of police intelligence on Monday, as witnessed by DH.

The protest billed as ‘Bengaluru’s Shaheen Bagh’ but nicknamed “BilalBagh,” because it sits astride the Masjid-E-Hazrath Bilal in Pillanna Garden, crossed the 80-hour mark on Tuesday night, with protesters defying police calls to vacate the area.

Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao said as long as protests do not inconvenience anybody that they should be allowed to continue. “Having said that, the protesters have to abide by our requirements – such as not resorting to violence and take permission from local police to congregate,” the commissioner added.

The central contention of police is that the Tannery Road protest is unauthorised because the organisers did not take police permission to assemble. Organisers, however, claimed that their intimations to police to hold the rally had gone unanswered.

Up until Tuesday morning, protesters claimed KG Halli police had allegedly aimed to remove the infrastructure of the protest – namely a shamiana tent erected across 9th Main Road, near the Masjid, plus audio equipment and a mic system. Student protesters said they countered this by buying the shamiana and the audio equipment.

Lawyers working on behalf of the protesters also argued that the protest does not require police permission as it has less than 250 people in attendance, under the Licensing and Controlling of Assemblies and Processions Order, 2009.

“The police should verify the numbers of people on-site before they raise the matter of permissions,” a lawyer said.

No hit and run protests, says commissioner

Responding to the controversy of police surety bonds for protests, Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao said that the bonds are perfectly legal under Section 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC), 1973.

“This is not a new provision. We are not asking anybody to deposit any money, we are not taking any bank guarantees and or a post-dated cheque. We are only saying: If anything goes wrong, this is the level of damages you have to pay. It is only because of this that we have been able to largely rein in indiscipline as far as protesters are concerned. There should be no ‘hit-and-run’ protests,” the commissioner said.

Rao also clarified that there will be no processions between Town Hall and Mysore Bank Circle.

“Only under exceptional circumstances will processions be restricted between railway stations and Freedom Park,” he said, adding these are guidance from the Supreme Court.