Delhi police accuse anti-pollution protesters of having Maoist ties as smog crisis continues

1. Asia
2. India

Several protesters were arrested in demonstration held at Delhi’s India Gate organised by student and climate groups

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Police in Delhi arrested several people who were allegedly part of a larger crowd that had gathered to protest against the Indian capital city’s worsening air quality, after accusing them of having ties to a rebel insurgency group.

Police officials accused the arrested people of raising “pro-Maoist” or “Maoist-style” slogans during the climate protests. They were also suspected to be carrying handmade posters of Maoist commander Madvi Hidma, who was killed in an encounter in the southern Andhra Pradesh state last week.

Maoist guerrillas, also known as “Naxalites”, have been waging a rebellion against the Indian government for four decades, mainly in the central states of Chhattisgarh and Telangana. They have long claimed to defend the rights of Indigenous tribes that live in central India. They also demand land and jobs for the poor.

Maoist rebels, who started their insurgency in the late 1960s and control swathes of what is known as the “red corridor” in central India, claim to speak for the tribals exploited by private corporations seeking to extract natural resources from their ancestral lands.

The Indian government has pledged to dismantle the movement entirely by March 2026. A sweeping security crackdown in recent months has reportedly led to dozens of arrests and surrenders. The Maoist conflict has reportedly claimed over 10,000 lives so far, although violence has declined in recent years. According to the police, Hidma was responsible for various attacks on the security forces in Chhattisgarh.

The allegations against the detained protesters were made by the police in a First Information Report (FIR), which is a document used to open a police investigation in India.

Several people were arrested during the protest held at Delhi’s India Gate area organised by student and climate groups. It was one of the several protests triggered by a severe spike in pollution in Delhi, with several neighbourhoods recording AQI levels of 700+ and “hazardous” particulate-matter levels for weeks.

Police said some of the protesters used pepper sprays on officers as they were being removed from the site, injuring several personnel. Videos circulating online also showed officers dragging and detaining demonstrators.

Six people from the India Gate air pollution protests were arrested and remanded to three days of police custody.

“The investigation so far has revealed that the members of these two groups had brought the posters but the other group members have not been given the clean chit so far,” a police source told The Indian Express.

Police added that the FIR includes Section 197 of India’s new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which covers “acts endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India”, a charge often used in cases involving alleged extremist activity, according to IE.

Judicial magistrate Arindam Singh Cheema of the city’s Patiala House Court said police custody was warranted in view of the seriousness of the allegations, the need to “unearth the larger conspiracy”, and the need for effective investigation.

Police officials have not publicly released a list of the organisations they suspect were a part of the protests or provided evidence beyond the claim that some participants used slogans associated with Maoist-inspired groups.

The India Gate protest was one of several small demonstrations held across the city after post-Diwali pollution pushed concentrations of PM2.5 far beyond safe limits. PM 2.5 refers to particulate matter measuring 2.5 microns or less in diameter that can be carried into the lungs, risking deadly diseases and cardiac problems.

In another protest, dozens of people gathered at Jantar Mantar, many wearing oxygen masks and carrying gas cylinders to depict the city’s air quality crisis as they held up placards demanding the right to breathe safe air.

Air quality in multiple neighbourhoods exceeded the “severe” threshold – the highest level on India’s index – meaning the air is considered dangerous for healthy people and potentially life-threatening for those with respiratory conditions.

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