NEW DELHI: All India Students’ Association (AISA) president Neha Bora on Saturday questioned the overnight detention of protesters, over the anti-SIR stir, saying women ought to be released after sunset and alleging that police denied her access to a lawyer for hours.Bora was detained under preventive provisions on the evening of October 16 and released early Saturday after formal procedures under Section 65 of the Delhi Police Act, Delhi Police said.“Under what authority is this justified? By what law or order is it permissible to keep detainees held in custody all night long? Legally, individuals, especially women, ought to be released after sunset, yet this is not happening,” Bora said.She alleged that police demanded her personal details but did not allow her to speak to or consult a lawyer for a long time. “Our lawyers spent 5–6 hours trying to reach me. It was only after we managed to call them that they were finally allowed to meet me,” she said.Bora also accused authorities of creating chaos in Central Delhi through roadblocks and restrictions, while questioning the police response to the protests.“Law and order are being flouted in every possible way. Ordinary citizens are treated as if they were hardened criminals, a practice that has persisted in this country for a long time,” she said.“Furthermore, there is a new narrative being pushed, one of chaos and anarchy. What kind of chaos and anarchy? The one you unleashed in Central Delhi? The people of Delhi cannot even breathe a sigh of relief; whichever route they take to get to work, they find it blocked. You are spreading chaos and anarchy across the nation. Please, spare the people of India. Impeach Gyanesh Kumar and halt SIR, so that the ordinary citizens of this country can breathe a sigh of relief, feel at ease, and have their voting rights ensured,” she added.
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Calling for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s impeachment and a halt to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, she said the move was necessary to ensure citizens’ voting rights.Meanwhile, Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke, who was also detained on Friday evening ahead of the ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ protest, is set to be produced before a special executive magistrate court.Delhi Police said action under Sections 126 and 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita was initiated against him.CJP had earlier alleged that Dipke was taken to an undisclosed location and denied access to lawyers, claiming his family and party members were unable to contact him for more than 10 hours. AISA had also said Bora’s whereabouts remained unknown for several hours before its lawyers traced her to the RK Puram police station around midnight.
