Press Club condemns detention of journalists covering protests against CEC Gyanesh Kumar

A protest march was held from 5 Raisina Road to Jantar Mantar demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, in New Delhi on September 25, 2026. | Photo Credit: ANI The Press Club of India (PCI), in a statement issued in New Delhi on Saturday (September 26, 2026), condemned the Delhi Police’s decision to detain two journalists, Frontline’s Vedaant Lakhera and The Wire’s Mohammamd Irfan, who were covering a protest at Jantar Mantar on Friday against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.The Press Club of India is shocked and deeply concerned that the Delhi Police decided to detain at least two journalists who were covering a protest at Jantar Mantar on September 25 regarding actions of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.We urge the @DelhiPolice to… pic.twitter.com/4c2yf3B1qI— Press Club of India (@PCITweets) September 26, 2026The PCI said in the statement that the two journalists were wearing their press IDs at the time. “Ironically, Mr. Lakhera was detained while asking Delhi Police personnel why they were not wearing name tags. While Mr. Lakhera was dragged to the Parliament Street police station and told to delete a picture, which he did not do, before he was let go, Mr. Irfan was taken to the police station in Dwarka and detained for several hours along with protesters before being released. At Jantar Mantar, a policeman also snatched his mic which bore the organisation’s logo and tossed it aside. It could not be found after that,” PCI president Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty and Secretary-General Afzal Imam said in the statement.“That the Delhi Police, controlled directly by the Union Home Ministry, would behave in this manner against journalists at the centre of the national capital is a matter of grave concern,” they added.FIR against MaktoobIn a separate statement, the PCI criticised the West Bengal Police’s FIR against Maktoob Media for its reporting on alleged exclusion of Muslim IAS and IPS officers from meetings during Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visits to the State.“There has been no official denial; yet the police have gone ahead with filing an FIR on the matter. Maktoob says it was not told about the FIR and only learned about it after a communication from X. Police have sought account creation, login and Android device details for @MaktoobMedia from X. The FIR is filed against ‘UnknownPerson1’, but the contents refer to Maktoob’s social media posts,” the PCI said.“This FIR is an attack on press freedom and part of the pattern to attempt to stop any independent journalism in the country,” it added. Published - September 26, 2026 10:26 pm IST