Mumbai Police Crackdown on Peaceful Protests Raises Rights Concerns

Inside Maharashtra’s crackdown on dissent center Police detain members of various student and political organisations during a joint protest in front of the IIT Powai main gate regarding IIT student Sahil Wakode's death, in Mumbai on October 14, 2026. Jitendra Takale/ANI Jitendra Takale/ANI https://fl-i.

thgim.com/public/incoming/d0jb0q/article71607148.ece/alternates/FREE_1200/Sahil%20Wakode%20protest.jpg Jitendra Takale Accounts of physical injuries, delayed medical care and the detention of women and students raise concerns about police conduct and legal safeguards.

NEWS ANALYSIS Over three weeks, Maharashtra Police have thwarted peaceful protests across the State—detaining students, activists, and even a toddler with force, violating detention norms, and blocking roads to enclosed maidans. “I’ve needed painkillers daily after what happened on October 10,” says Niharika Phukon, a 23-year-old master’s candidate in sociology at the University of Mumbai, five days after she was detained with excessive force by the Mumbai Police in Nana Chowk, near Grant Road Station in South Mumbai.