Police use lathis to disperse the protesters; claim they were carrying bottles filled with petrol

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists breached police barricades in a bid to barge into the office of Amnesty International India in Indiranagar on Friday. Police used lathis to disperse the gathering. Six protesters and five policemen were injured.

The police filed cases against 22 protestors for unlawful assembly and using force to deter the police from doing their job.

ABVP members had gathered there to protest against Amnesty International India whom they accused of raising ‘anti-national’ slogans during a programme on Kashmir on August 13.

On the sixth day of the protest, over 100 ABVP members gathered in front of the Amnesty office. A sizeable number of police personnel were present. They had barricaded the door and locked the gate. Initially, they attempted to pacify the protesters saying that the office had been locked and no one was working inside. However, protestors saw Amnesty personnel observing them from the gallery of the office.

The activists attempted to barge into the office, with members carrying an effigy and a petrol can.

“The protesters wanted to enter the building and search for employees… Moreover, they were carrying bottles filled with petrol. In order to protect the premises and officials of Amnesty International from harm, the protestors were removed from the site by using force,” said P. Harishekaran, Additional Commissioner of Police (East). Veena, an activist, collapsed and was rushed to a hospital.

No Amnesty International employee was hurt. The employees had arrived in office on Friday morning after a one-day break on Thursday when they were asked to work from alternative locations based on a police advisory. The police had anticipated a protest and deputed personnel at the office.