Activist Tehseen Poonawalla claimed he was put under house arrest by the Delhi Police as he tried to leave home for a Jantar Mantar protest against sugar prices and the E20 policy. He posted a video of the confrontation on his social media, claiming that he was being denied the right to protest over sugar and ethanol policies.
Activist Tehseen Poonawalla has claimed he was put under house arrest by the Delhi Police as he attempted to leave his residence to protest against the “sugar scam” on Saturday, alleging that policies that have led to a rise in sugar prices benefit the politically connected while consumers pay more. His protest was also aimed at the Centre’s E20 fuel policy.
Videos shared by Poonawalla on X show him questioning the police over the detention and asking why he was being stopped from going to Jantar Mantar. A police officer told him that his request to visit the protest site had been “cancelled” and that allowing him to proceed could lead to a law-and-order problem, with supporters potentially joining him.
The police officer also said that “some wrong people” could be among those who joined the protest. Poonawalla then questioned whether the police could stop him on the basis of such a possibility.
Speaking to India Today Digital, Poonawalla said Team Bharat, a citizen advocacy group he founded, had decided to “protest peacefully against rising sugar prices”, which he described as part of a “sugar scam”. He alleged that the policy was designed to benefit the children of politically connected people while pushing up sugar prices.
“The Delhi Police, as usual, came over to my house and has detained me,” Poonawalla told India Today Digital.
“I am under house arrest. No documentation… I just offered them [the police] a glass of sugarcane juice,” he added.
Poonawalla later made a series of posts saying that he and others had been detained and suggested that he could be arrested if he tried to leave. He also alleged that the police had cited law-and-order concerns arising from protests held on Friday at Jantar Mantar.
“…Yesterday’s (sic) kids were singing Vande Mataram and Hanuman Chalisa!! How were they wrong and how have we been detained?” He posted on X when the Delhi Police told him that the protest at Jantar Mantar on Friday “had issues”.
Speaking to India Today Digital, Poonawalla also alleged that the ethanol-blending policy was “destroying our vehicles” and said the protests were aimed at both the E20 policy and rising sugar prices.
“They don’t want us to protest against the ethanol 20 blending policy, which is destroying our vehicles,” he said. He also alleged that the policy and the rise in sugar prices were affecting people’s household budgets.
Poonawalla also said, “They don’t want us to protest against the rising sugar prices and against the scam that is making kids of Netas millionaires and completely taking away our peace of mind — both of our vehicles and of our house budget.”
He also posted on X, “The sugar scam is a bitter scam in the face of a policy.”
POONAWALLA OFFERED SUGARCANE JUICE TO COPS
Soon after posting a video of the police asking him not to leave the house to protest, Poonawalla also posted a video showing him offering sugarcane juice to police personnel stationed outside his residence. He used the gesture to sarcastically highlight his criticism of the rise in sugar prices and ethanol policies, suggesting that sugarcane juice could become more expensive in the future.
The sugarcane-juice gesture also drew attention on social media. However, Poonawalla’s main contention remained that he was being prevented from protesting against the E20 policy.
The latest videos do not show a written detention order being presented to Poonawalla. They do, however, show police telling him not to proceed because his permission to go to Jantar Mantar had been cancelled and citing potential law-and-order concerns.
Poonawalla has questioned why he was being stopped from exercising his right to protest.
The latest detention comes weeks after a similar confrontation between Poonawalla and the Delhi Police over his proposed protest against the E20 fuel policy.