Amnesty Sedition row: Cops 'mildly' lathicharge ABVP during protests

Bengaluru: Police yesterday resorted to ‘mild' lathicharge to disperse ABVP activists staging a protest in front of the Amnesty International India office here demanding arrest of those who allegedly raised anti-India slogans at an Amnesty event.

Police baton charge ABVP activists during a protest against the Amnesty International India in Bengaluru. Pic/PTI

Several ABVP activists were injured, with a girl student fainting in the commotion before she was rushed to a hospital, police said, adding they detained many activists during the crackdown on the protest. Additional Commissioner of Police Bengaluru East P Harishekaran said, "With two bottles of petrol they tried to burn an effigy in front of Amnesty International here. We had in prior warned them against any effigy burning as it is a residential area and from the security point of view." ABVP National General Secretary Vinay Bidre said, "We demanded that police vacate Amnesty staff who were recording our protest from their office. We told police we won't cause any harm to them. We did not try to barge into their premises and tried to burn Amnesty's effigy, but police unnecessarily used force on us."