'Inhumane...': Protesters hit out at SC order

Protests continued for a second consecutive day against the Supreme Court order to move stray dogs across Delhi-NCR to shelters within eight weeks, with hundreds gathering at Connaught Place on Tuesday evening, raising slogans against the Supreme Court directive and calling for its reversal.

- Jignasa Sinha, Varun Bhandari and Jasjeev Gandhiok

Protests started around 4pm near the Hanuman temple and continued for an hour, before police dispersed them and detained several protesters in buses.

Protesters, meanwhile, alleged police brutality and said that a police officer could be seen slapping a protester in a video. HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.

Deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi) Devesh Kumar Mahla did not respond to calls and messages seeking comment.

A senior police officer said protesters did not have permission to congregate. “We gave them repeated warnings and even asked them to shift to Jantar Mantar, but they did not listen to us. They did not even seek permission for the protest. Since it was an illegal gathering, police had to remove them. While we were trying to put them in buses, men and women started fighting with our staff.”