Police in the Indian capital of Delhi Tuesday released political activist Yogendra Yadav and 95 party workers who were arrested Monday night for organizing a protest on farmers' issues.
Yadav, leader of the farmer rights group Swaraj Abhiyan and a former member of the anti-corruption Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and the others were arrested at Jantar Mantar, Delhi's iconic protest site, Monday night for holding a protest march against the Land Acquisition Bill without permission, according to IBNLive.
Fifty-one-year-old Yadav, in series of tweets last night, alleged that he had been beaten and manhandled by the Delhi police.
I have been beaten up, manhandled, dragged, pushed and arrested at the parliament street police station. pic.twitter.com/kbJgT9rSuh
— Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) August 10, 2015
"All of us, 96 in all, are now being arrested. But what's the crime, I wonder," he tweeted. "Is standing peacefully with a Hal [plowshare] an offence? We were not obstructing traffic, were willing to cooperate with any reasonable condition."
Delhi police, however, defended their actions saying they had asked Yadav to end his protest.
"Considering the Independence Day and the terror threats, we did not allow him to continue the protest. But he challenged the police and continued his protest. Later, he was arrested and kept in parliament street police station," Deputy Commissioner Police Vijay Singh told IANS.
Delhi chief minister and Yadav's former party leader Arvind Kejriwal condemned the arrest and lashed out at police.
"We condemn the way police behaved with Yogendra Yadav and his supporters. This is not right as in this country peaceful demonstration is a fundamental right under Article 19 of the Constitution and we condemn such action against peaceful protesters," he told reporters Tuesday, according to India Today.
