Men wearing saffron scarves and carrying sticks were seen threatening protesters in central Delhi for a second consecutive day on Sunday, a day after groups allegedly assaulted demonstrators demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. Police have arrested four men in connection with one of Saturday’s assaults.
Several men carrying sticks were seen moving around Connaught Place, confronting demonstrators and issuing threats as protests continued against alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission (EC) and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The groups continued to move through protest areas despite the arrests and prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
On Saturday, men sporting saffron scarves and raising religious slogans were seen threatening protesters, openly defending violence and expressing support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Some accused demonstrators of raising “anti-national and anti-Modi” slogans and described them as “anti-national elements” who deserved to be beaten.
The men were also heard raising slogans such as “Delhi Police tum lath bajao, hum tumhare saath hain” (Delhi Police, you wield the baton, we are with you).
Police said four men claiming to be members of the right-wing Hindu Raksha Dal had been arrested over an assault on DDU Marg, under the Kamla Market police station’s jurisdiction. Videos of the incident showed men assaulting a male protester and manhandling a woman, pushing her to the ground and pulling at her clothes.
The arrests relate to one of the incidents captured on camera. Several other videos from Saturday showed larger groups confronting demonstrators at different locations, allegedly threatening them and openly justifying the use of violence in the presence of police personnel.
Two men seen in the assault video also appear in older footage alongside Hindu Raksha Dal chief Pinki Chaudhary, a history-sheeter based in Ghaziabad. The footage purportedly shows a police officer at the scene. In one sequence, another officer approaches an alleged attacker and appears to whisper something to him, after which the man charges towards the person recording the incident.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was among those who shared a screenshot of the purported assault.
Chaudhary also shared the video on X on Saturday, claiming responsibility for the attack and identifying the men as members of his organisation. He described the group as one that “delivers on its promises” and threatened to continue targeting those he accused of challenging Sanatan Dharma.
In another post, Chaudhary described the attackers as “warriors” of Sanatan Dharma and warned that his organisation would retaliate against those who targeted it. He tagged the Prime Minister’s Office and the offices of the chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
His posts followed an appeal ahead of the demonstrations in which he had urged supporters to reach Jantar Mantar carrying sticks. In July, following student-led protests at Jantar Mantar, Chaudhary and his associates had also released videos threatening to physically attack demonstrators.
The Hindu Raksha Dal, founded by Chaudhary in 2013, has been associated with campaigns involving cow protection, opposition to interfaith relationships and allegations of religious conversions.
PTI traced the Instagram profiles of two of the arrested men on Saturday evening and found posts containing incendiary communal content. Both profiles had been deleted by Sunday morning.
One video posted in August showed celebrations following the purported release of an alleged attacker from jail. His supporters described him as a “lion” both inside and outside jail and called him a terror for “jihadis”. Other videos showed men identifying themselves as Hindu Raksha Dal members forcibly shutting chicken shops and non-vegetarian restaurants.
During Saturday’s protests, some men confronting demonstrators openly defended the violence. One man who said he had travelled from Uttar Pradesh claimed that those seeking to “divide” the country deserved to be beaten.
Thousands of protesters were detained across the capital on Saturday during demonstrations demanding Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in the EC’s functioning and the SIR exercise.
(With inputs from PTI)