the Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) expresses grave concern and strong condemnation of the recent and ongoing wave of illegal abductions, enforced disappearances, and custodial torture of democratic activists in Delhi and surrounding areas. These actions represent not only an attack on civil liberties and democratic rights but constitute gross violations of constitutional, statutory, and international legal protections.
On July 9, 2025, activists Gurkirat, Gaurav, and Gauraang of the Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch were picked up without any arrest warrant or notice, in complete violation of Sections 35 and 36 of the BNSS. They were detained at New Friends Colony Police Station, without informing family members or legal counsel.
On July 11, Ehtmam-ul Haque and Baadal were similarly abducted in Delhi, while Samrat Singh, a psychologist and social worker, was picked up from his residence in Yamunanagar, Haryana, without the knowledge of local authorities and outside the jurisdictional mandate of the Delhi Police.
None of these detentions followed the legal procedures required under Article 22 of the Constitution of India, which guarantees the right to be informed of the grounds of arrest and to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of one’s choice. Nor were the requirements laid out in the D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal (1997) Supreme Court judgment adhered to—no arrest memos were prepared, families were not informed, and the detainees were denied access to legal counsel.
While in custody, the activists were subjected to torture that directly violates the right to life and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution. They were stripped naked, beaten, electrocuted, and subjected to degrading treatment including having their heads submerged in toilet bowls. The police also issued horrific threats of sexual violence, particularly against female activists, who were told they would be raped using rods—a tactic of intimidation that constitutes sexual torture under both Indian law and international conventions.
These acts amount to criminal offenses under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, including wrongful restraint and confinement (Sections 124 and 125), kidnapping and abduction (Sections 137 and 138), voluntarily causing hurt and grievous hurt (Sections 112–115), and criminal intimidation (Section 138(2)), as well as violations of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, where applicable. The Indian Supreme Court has repeatedly held that custodial torture is not only illegal but a direct assault on the rule of law.
These detentions and acts of torture are not isolated incidents. They form part of a broader national pattern of state repression under the Surajkund Scheme, to silence and criminalize all forms of democratic dissent. The country is witnessing an undeclared emergency, marked by surveillance, forced surrenders, and normalized custodial violence, with students, civil rights activists, and people’s activists being treated as enemies of the state.
As of now, Ehtmam-ul Haque and Samrat Singh continue to be detained illegally at New Friends Colony Police Station, without being produced before a magistrate as required under Article 22(2) of the Constitution and Section 187 of the BNSS, 2023, which mandate that no person shall be detained without judicial oversight beyond 24 hours.
We demand:
1. The immediate and unconditional release of Ehtmam-ul Haque and Samrat Singh from illegal detention.
2. A judicial inquiry into the abductions, enforced disappearances, custodial torture, and threats of sexual violence faced by the detained activists.
3. The registration of criminal cases against, and prosecution of, police personnel and officials responsible for these unlawful acts.
4. An end to the targeted criminalization of student activists, people’s organizations, and civil society voices through arbitrary detention, surveillance, torture, and fabricated cases.
The use of abduction, torture, and sexual threats as instruments of governance constitutes a complete collapse of the rule of law and a descent into fascist authoritarianism.CASR calls upon all sections of society—civil liberties organizations, trade unions, student movements, lawyers, journalists, artists, and ordinary citizens—to raise their voices and stand united against this assault on democratic freedoms.
*CAMPAIGN AGAINST STATE REPRESSION Organizing Team*
(AIRSO, AISA, AISF, APCR, ASA, BASF, BSM, Bhim Army, bsCEM, CEM, COLLECTIVE, CRPP, CSM, CTF, DISSC, DSU, DTF, Forum Against Repression Telangana, Fraternity, IAPL, Innocence Network, Karnataka Janashakti, LAA, Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan, Mazdoor Patrika, NAPM, Nazariya Magazine , Nishant Natya Manch, Nowruz, NTUI, People’s Watch, Rihai Manch, Samajwadi Janparishad, Smajwadi lok manch, Bahujan Samjavadi Mnach, SFI, United Peace Alliance, WSS, Y4S)
July 18, 2025
