Fourteen women members of the All India Students’ Federation travelling from Pune to Delhi for a protest were detained at Itarsi railway station in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday evening, according to a report by The Times of India. The students were travelling on the Goa Express when police intercepted them amid security measures ahead of the protest.
The group was travelling to participate in a demonstration called by CJP that demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The report did not provide details of the specific security order or police action under which the students were detained.
After being intercepted at Itarsi, the students were taken to a local hotel and kept in a banquet hall under restricted access. The location placed the incident inside the wider railway and administrative network linking Pune with Delhi, with Itarsi serving as the point where the group’s journey was stopped.
Deepak Chaudhary, the general manager of the hotel where the students were taken, told The Times of India that the group arrived at the premises between 6pm and 7pm. He said the students had been secluded in a banquet hall and that hotel staff were not permitted to enter the area.
“ The students were brought in between 6pm and 7pm and they have been secluded in a banquet hall, with no staff allowed to enter the area,” Chaudhary said, adding that food and water had been provided to them as instructed by the authorities.
The report did not identify the police officials involved, state whether the students were issued any written order, or specify how long they were expected to remain at the hotel. It also did not include a response from the Madhya Pradesh police, railway authorities, CJP or the AISF regarding the detention.
The incident highlights how major railway junctions can become points of intervention during periods of heightened security around public demonstrations. For passengers, such action can alter an otherwise routine inter-city journey without affecting the operation of the train itself. In this case, the students were stopped while travelling towards Delhi rather than at the site of the planned protest.
The available account establishes that the students were intercepted at Itarsi, moved to a hotel and provided food and water under official instruction. Further details about the legal basis of the detention, the authorities responsible and the students’ subsequent release or onward travel were not available in the report.
