Published Jul 23, 2026 | 2:12 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 23, 2026 | 2:12 PM
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Synopsis: The Mumbai Police’s attempts to cow down protesters have hit a new low with a video of one of their cops issuing a drug rap threat surfacing. Multiple media outlets have already reported on the “heavy-handed” approach of the cops, which has even involved asking detained people to share live locations. Meanwhile, a brave woman’s defiance in India’s Maximum City is also winning praise.
A video showing a Mumbai cop threatening to plant drug packets on students protesting against exam paper leaks and the Delhi Police crackdown went viral on Thursday.
“If I see you at the protest site again, you will find that there can be no one worse than me. I will place 25 grams of powder directly into each of your pockets and reel you in. After that, your life is done,” the man in khaki is heard saying.
Journalist Sudhir Suryawanshi, among those who shared the video, demanded strict action against the cop.
The video comes at a time when many news outlets have termed the Mumbai Police’s approach towards handling the protests in the city as “heavy-handed”.
There had been around 125 protests in Maharashtra on Monday and Tuesday, the Mumbai Mirror reported. Mumbai had seen only seven of them. But once police began their preventive detention drive against activists, the ranks of protesters swelled, with thousands of people arriving at the protest sites.
“The detentions in Mumbai seem to have set off public anger,” a senior officer, who wished to remain anonymous, was quoted as admitting to the paper.
Activist Sameer Waghle told the Mirror that “the illegal crackdown of Mumbai Police, who booked around 900 citizens and young crowds, is nothing but a method to crush the strong voice of dissenters. But this triggered more protesters to turn up in large numbers across Mumbai.”
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The Indian Express highlighted that one in five people named in Mumbai Police’s FIRs on Tuesday belonged to the 18-20 age group, while one in two people were 25 years or below. Women were not spared either, making up one in three of those charged.
In all, the cops had registered 15 FIRs while charge sheeting 1500 people in the last week, the paper reported.
In a separate story, Mohammad Thaver and Pallavi Smart detailed how protesters had been asked to share their live locations after being told to remain at home. They cited screenshots of what a protester claimed was a WhatsApp conversation with a senior inspector at Mumbai’s Versova police station as proof.
Deepshika Waare, the senior inspector whose name came up in the conversation, refused to respond when contacted.
Scroll, meanwhile, quoted Rohan Shelar, identified as a writer, saying that the Mumbai police “pulled my hair, grabbed my clothes.”
Shelar also complained that the police were hounding him and telling him to share his live location, according to the website.
“I received calls from the RCF police station in Chembur. Today, three police officials were stationed outside my house to keep an eye on me,” Shelar said.
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Another viral video showed a brave lady protester who stood right before a police van and stopped it after protesters were detained.
“Why shouldn’t I stop the van? I understand they are doing their job. But they are not doing it responsibly. If they cannot show responsibility, we will take up the responsibility of safeguarding our citizens. I stopped this van by myself. Two minutes and look at this,” she said, as her impassioned intervention led to Inquilab Zindabad slogans being raised and the crowd joining her in defiance and solidarity.
“I am not a student. But what they did to the students on July 20 is wrong. Because they were afraid (they unleashed a crackdown)… They have to now own up to it. Dharmendra Pradhan had tweeted blaming Rahul Gandhi for politicising the issue. He must resign. If he cannot, he must head to Jantar Mantar and talk to the students. Tell them why and how the paper leaks happened. Make them understand. Talk to people, man,” she advised Pradhan and the government, her defiance firmly intact.
THIS IS PEAK COURAGE 🔥
One fearless woman stood in front of a police can carrying detained protestors during Mumbai students protest
She refused to back down
Soon more people joined and the police had to release the protestors
What a brave lady. Huge respect 🫡 pic.twitter.com/2iGA9GMdtw
— Ankit Mayank (@mr_mayank) July 22, 2026
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(Edited by R Rajesh Kumar.)
