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The Delhi Police on with paramilitary forces connected Friday (March 20, 2026) allegedly dragged astatine slightest 50 journalists retired of the United News of India’s (UNI) Rafi Marg bureau pursuing a tribunal bid implicit a onshore dispute.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Sachin Sharma told The Hindu that the Delhi Police on with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) unit visited the premises of the UNI bureau to supply information to the Land and Development Office aft the High Court gave an bid to vacate the premises successful favour of the latter. “As per the HC order, we were determination to supply information to the L&DO officers and asked each UNI staffers to vacate the premises,” said Mr. Sharma.
The lawsuit pertained to an bid issued by the Land and Development Office nether the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, which had asked the quality bureau to vacate the premises.
The High Court connected Friday had upheld the cancellation of the onshore allotment made to UNI astatine Rafi Marg, observing that the bureau failed to conception a gathering connected the crippled for implicit 4 decades and efficaciously “squatted connected invaluable nationalist land”.
The High Court had recovered nary illegality successful the March 29, 2023 cancellation missive issued by the L&DO, which had revoked UNI’s allotment of onshore astatine Rafi Marg. UNI had moved the tribunal against the cancellation missive successful 2023. It noted that nether the archetypal allotment presumption dating backmost to 1979, UNI was required to implicit the operation of a composite bureau analyzable wrong 2 years of taking possession. However, nary operation enactment was undertaken and adjacent preliminary steps towards the task were not initiated.
The bid records that the onshore was primitively intended to beryllium jointly utilized by UNI, the Press Club of India and the Press Association, but the superior allottee failed to fulfil its obligations.
‘No announcement was given’
Sabir Haque, a UNI staffer told The Hindu that the constabulary arrived astir 6 p.m. connected Friday and without showing immoderate announcement oregon giving immoderate time, asked each staffers to vacate. “They were not giving america clip to talk to our management. They did not let reporters who had gone retired for assignments to participate the bureau for collecting their belongings,” said Mr. Haque. Meanwhile, the constabulary dragged each employees, adjacent women from their seats, and pushed them retired of the office, helium said.
Taking to societal media level X, the quality organisation wrote, “Despite requests from employees to beryllium fixed immoderate clip and to hold for the accomplishment of institution management, and demands to amusement a notice, they forcibly dragged and pushed immoderate employees, including pistillate staff, distant from their seats and retired of the newsroom. The employees were besides subjected to verbal abuse”.
However, the DCP said that nary journalists were manhandled. “We person made video recordings of the full process,” helium said.
The UNI further alleged successful its connection that the constabulary threatened the employees by stating that if they “did not permission peacefully, they would person to usage force”.
At present, the Delhi Police has sealed the bureau premises. A announcement hung connected its gross reads that the premises has been taken implicit by the Government of India connected March 20, pursuant to the judgement dated March 20 of the Honourable Delhi High Court. “Any entry, occupation, oregon usage of the premises by immoderate idiosyncratic without authorisation of L&DO is strictly prohibited and volition invitation enactment nether law,” work the notice.
(With inputs from Rocky Singh)
