New Delhi, India — Activist Tehseen Poonawalla has claimed that Delhi Police placed him under house arrest on Saturday as he attempted to leave his residence for a planned protest at Jantar Mantar against rising sugar prices and the Centre’s E20 fuel policy.
- Key Highlights:
- Poonawalla said police stopped him from travelling to Jantar Mantar for the planned protest.
- Police cited the cancellation of his permission and potential law-and-order concerns.
- He alleged that sugar and ethanol policies benefit politically connected families while increasing costs for consumers.
- Poonawalla offered sugarcane juice to police personnel stationed outside his residence.
Tehseen Poonawalla claims house arrest
Poonawalla said his citizen advocacy group, Team Bharat, had planned a peaceful demonstration over what he described as a “sugar scam” and the E20 fuel policy. He alleged that government policies concerning sugar and ethanol were contributing to higher costs for ordinary consumers.
Videos shared by Poonawalla on X showed him questioning police personnel outside his residence about why he was being prevented from travelling to Jantar Mantar. A police officer told him that his request to visit the protest site had been cancelled.
The officer cited the possibility of a law-and-order issue if Poonawalla were allowed to proceed, saying that supporters could potentially join him. The officer also referred to the possibility that “some wrong people” could join the gathering.
Police cite law-and-order concerns
Poonawalla questioned whether police could stop him based on the possibility of other people joining his protest. He later said he had been detained at his home and suggested that he could be arrested if he attempted to leave.
Speaking to India Today Digital, Poonawalla described the situation as a house arrest and said he had not been shown documentation. The videos supplied in the report do not show a written detention order being presented to him.
However, the footage does show police personnel telling him not to proceed to Jantar Mantar. The reason given on camera was that permission for his visit had been cancelled and that allowing him to go could create a law-and-order concern.
Poonawalla links protest to sugar prices and E20
Poonawalla said Team Bharat’s demonstration was intended to address both rising sugar prices and the E20 policy, under which petrol is blended with up to 20 per cent ethanol.
He alleged that the policies were benefiting the children of politically connected people while placing additional pressure on consumers. He also argued that the ethanol-blending policy was harming vehicles, though these claims were presented by Poonawalla and were not independently established in the supplied material.
His criticism has expanded beyond the fuel-blending policy to the wider relationship between sugar and ethanol. On social media, he has referred to the issues as the “Sugar Scam” and “Ethanol Scam”, alleging that ordinary households are bearing the consequences through higher costs.
Sugarcane juice offered to police
During the confrontation, Poonawalla offered sugarcane juice to police personnel stationed outside his residence. He shared a video of the gesture on X, using it to make a pointed comment about the relationship between sugarcane, sugar prices and ethanol policy.
The unusual gesture attracted attention on social media, but Poonawalla’s central complaint remained his claim that he was being prevented from travelling to the designated protest location.
In another post, he questioned the police action by referring to people who had gathered at Jantar Mantar the previous day. He said those protesters had been singing “Vande Mataram” and the Hanuman Chalisa and questioned why they had been treated differently.
Earlier E20 protest also faced police action
The latest confrontation follows an earlier dispute between Poonawalla and Delhi Police over a proposed demonstration against the E20 policy. On July 31, he announced plans for a solo march from APJ Abdul Kalam Marg to Gandhi Smriti on Tees January Marg.
He said the march would include a day-long hunger strike against the policy. The announcement came after police allegedly denied permission for Team Bharat’s proposed “Gaadi March” to Parliament.
Poonawalla has continued to campaign against E20, while also connecting the policy to his allegations concerning sugar prices and ethanol. He has repeatedly argued that the policies favour politically connected families at the expense of ordinary consumers.
The latest episode leaves the immediate dispute centred on whether Poonawalla could proceed to Jantar Mantar after police cancelled his permission and cited potential law-and-order concerns. His claims about the economic effects of the policies remain his allegations, while the supplied material does not include a separate police statement responding to those allegations.
Praveen Yadav is the Founder and Content Creator of The Nation Bulletin, an independent digital news platform focused on delivering timely, reliable and meaningful news from India and around the world.
