Bengaluru: Police broke up a pro-Palestine protest in Fraser Town on Sunday evening and detained 15 activists for more than five hours.
Activists had planned to distribute pro-Palestine pamphlets and posters near the Carry Fresh Supermarket on Mosque Road around 4.30 pm but police personnel bundled them into a bus and took them away.
They were taken to RT Nagar and Pulakeshinagar police stations.
Activists alleged that the police brutally manhandled them with a policeman even beating up a female student.
By around 5.30 pm, protesters lodged at the RT Nagar station were moved to Pulakeshinagar. While they were finally released around 10 pm, police reportedly slapped FIRs on them.
Sharik Dasgupta, a volunteer with the All India Students Association (AISA), alleged that the cops beat up two male activists at the police station.
"A bystander who was there at the location for shopping was also detained by the police. Though we asked the police to spare the bystander, he was detained. Even though he has a sick mother at home and repeatedly requested the police, he was released after everyone else," Dasgupta added.
The inspector of the Pulakeshinagar police station refused to comment. Other senior police officers did not respond to phone calls from DH.