‘The protest was for students like me’: Bareilly youth’s Jantar Mantar trip ended in assault

According to Ayush, he had been following news of the demonstration for several days before deciding to join it. He reached Jantar Mantar on July 23. There, he met Rahul, who lives near his home in Bareilly’s Bithora area. After spending the day at the protest site, the two stayed overnight at a Gurdwara Bangla Sahib.

“We had eaten food at the protest site and spent the night at the gurdwara, which is around 2 km away. The next morning, around 7, we were heading back to Jantar Mantar when a man stopped us and started questioning us,” Ayush said.

देशभर के आंदोलनकारियों के सूचनार्थ!

भाजपा और उनके संगी-साथियों के दुर्व्यवहार, दुर्वचनों और हिंसा को सब देख लें। इनका दुस्साहस देखिए कि अभी युवाओं को वचन दिए हुए चंद घंटे भी नहीं हुए हैं और ये भाजपाई अपने इतिहास को दोहराते हुए फिर से धोखा दे रहे हैं। भाजपा के ये संस्कारी नेताजी… pic.twitter.com/DASFibVr11

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) July 25, 2026

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The man was later identified as Satyam Pandit, a Ghaziabad resident who claims to be the president of the Rashtra Hindu Veer Sena.

The 1-minute video shows Pandit, wearing an orange scarf, questioning the two youths. He asked them, “Why are you supporting the CJP (Cockroach Janta Party)? What is your name? Are you Hindu?… People here are raising anti-national slogans. Why are you doing this?”

The video then shows Pandit hurling abuses before grabbing one of them by the collar and slapping him twice. Both students could be seen pleading with him to let them go.

Ayush and Rahul returned to Bareilly after the protest ended on July 25. He said he only realised the incident had snowballed after Pandit uploaded the video to social media.

“… I had gone to take part in the protest after taking permission from my family, but once the video went viral, they scolded me… I never wanted to make an issue out of this, but he (Pandit) raised the matter and circulated the video,” said Ayush, whose father passed away last year.

Ayush disconnected the call mid-conversation and was unavailable for further comment.

Police in Delhi and Bareilly said they had not received any complaint regarding the incident. Delhi Police said it was verifying the authenticity of the video.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Pandit confirmed he was the person seen in the video and said it was recorded near Hanuman Mandir, close to the protest site.

Asked why he assaulted the two students, Pandit claimed he had heard that people attending the CJP protest were abusing the Prime Minister and Lord Shri Ram.

“Chalo bhai kisi neta ko bhi gali sun lete, lekin koi agar hamare prabhu Shri Ram ko gali dega to hum nahi sunenge. (We can ignore abuses directed at politicians, but we will not tolerate anyone insulting our Lord Shri Ram). I checked the protest site before stopping these two youths,” he claimed.

The video was shared by several users on social media, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav who criticised the incident.

In a post on X in Hindi, Akhilesh called for Pandit’s arrest and wrote, “Everyone should take note of the BJP and its associates’ misconduct, abusive language and violence. See the extent of their brazenness: only a few hours have passed since assurances were given to the youth, and BJP leaders have already begun repeating their old pattern by allegedly going back on those promises…”

Pandit, a final-year law student, faces around six criminal cases registered in Ghaziabad between 2022 and 2026, according to police. These include cases related to assault on shopkeepers, vendors and a meat shop owner, and allegedly making inflammatory remarks against Bangladeshis.

He frequently posts videos of his actions on social media. In a recent video he recorded, he is heard asking the UP Police to avoid deploying Muslim officers on duty for the Kanwar Yatra.

Pandit said that if the police initiated action against him, he was prepared to face legal consequences.