Chhatrasal Stadium turns into a detention site: Protesters recount hours inside

But his protest was short-lived.

As he reached the Central Secretariat, he found the police had already launched a lathicharge. He was picked up and loaded in a tourist bus – one of the two carrying the protesters. The buses were then driven to the Burari police station.

“We were told our names would be recorded and we would be released. They noted down our names, but then nothing happened for about an hour,” he said.

Around 4 pm, a tourist bus arrived. Ishaan and the other detainees were made to board the bus and told that they were being taken to the Ramlila ground. But the bus instead arrived at the Chhatrasal Stadium.

“We were kept inside the bus for around 40 minutes before being taken inside the stadium, where another group of protesters was already seated,” he said.

For the next six hours, Ishaan, along with other detainees, remained seated, while the police arranged food and water for them.

Later that night, Ishaan said, the detainees were divided into smaller groups of six or seven and moved into police SUVs. They were first taken to a hospital before being shifted to different police stations like Model Town, Jahangirpuri and Mukerjee Nagar.

Ishan was taken to the Mukherjee Nagar police station. “A lawyer came and the police officers shouted at us and took our phones away,” he said.

Anjali, his wife, faced a harrowing time when she could not reach him. “I could only reach him around 12 pm today when I got a call from police saying that he had been detained,” she said.

Another protester who was detained at the stadium, Harshit (20), is a NEET aspirant who sat for the exam this year before it was cancelled.

“They prepared an arrest memo against me. When I asked what is the need for an arrest memo if this is a detention, the police officers said they have been told that an arrest memo is needed,” he said.

An arrest memo is an official legal document prepared by police officers at the time of arresting a person.

Kartik, Harshit’s brother and a doctor, added, “I was talking to him until 1 am, when he was at the stadium. He asked me if I was still waiting for him, as the police told him that no one was waiting for him… He was first taken to the Mahendra Park police station and then to Shalimar Bagh police station.”

“I couldn’t contact him after he reached the police station, as they took away his phone,” he added.

Harshit said he was taken to Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital to file a medico-legal case.

Aman Raj (26), another protester, is a resident of Ved Vihar and works in the finance sector.

“My friends and brothers waited outside Chhatrasal Stadium while I was inside the stadium. The police kept telling us we would be released at 7 pm, then 8 pm, then 11 pm, but we remained there until nearly 2 am,” he said. Aman’s phone was also confiscated.

“At the police station, they showed me a document, and asked me to sign it. I asked them what it was, they said it’s a warning. Then they made me enter a lock-up,” he said.

It was Aman’s first visit to a police station.

Aman, Harshit and Ishan all alleged that arrest memos were prepared for them by the police.

Meanwhile, a staff member at the stadium told The Indian Express that the police arrived at the venue in the evening.

“They said they needed the stadium. I locked all the entry and exit gates on their instructions and left. When I returned around 10 am the next morning, no one was here,” the staff member said.