4 min readMumbaiUpdated: Jul 23, 2026 07:17 AM IST
Calls asking protestors to stay home, officers showing up at their houses, requests to share live location: police used all three to keep those already booked in FIRs linked to the Cockroach Janta Party protests from returning to the streets, according to accounts from multiple protestors and police officials.
One protester posted screenshots on social media of a WhatsApp conversation in which a senior inspector from Versova police station asked her to stay home and “send her live location and keep it on” to prove she had. Contacted about the exchange, the inspector, Deepshika Vare, declined to comment. Another officer at the station said an FIR had been registered against the protester, and that she had not been detained.
Others said police visited their homes directly. “While they did not visit my residence, many protesters were youngsters who had not told their families about it. By sending policemen to their houses, it was also a way of informing their families and discouraging them from joining the protest,” one protestor said.
Protestors participate in a demonstration at Shivaji park in support of the CJP-led protest in Delhi against paper leak in NEET examination, in Mumbai on 22 July 2026.
Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee
A 20-year-old protestor said he got a call from Shivaji Park police station telling him to stay home because officers would be visiting as part of their investigation. “It was clear that it was their ploy to ensure that we do not leave our houses and join other protests,” he said.
Several young protestors said the calls and warnings kept them from joining Wednesday’s demonstrations. Most had already been served notices over the Monday and Tuesday protests, said a member of Mumbai Against Suppression of Students (MASS), a collective of student organisations helping organise the protests. “While some received calls on Wednesday morning warning them against joining any further protests, saying they were already named in an FIR, others had police officials visit their homes with the same warning,” the member said.
Protestors participate in a demonstration at Shivaji park in support of the CJP-led protest in Delhi against paper leak in NEET examination, in Mumbai on 22 July 2026.
Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee
An engineering student who protested at Dadar said a friend who had been served a notice after Monday’s protest stayed away from Wednesday’s demonstration after a police call. “Today’s protest was important because there will be no gatherings from tomorrow. We had planned to participate together, but my friend could not come after receiving the call from the police. She was told that since she had already been served a notice, if she was seen at another protest, it could create problems for her,” the student said.
A senior police officer said the goal was to stop youngsters who don’t grasp the consequences of an FIR from damaging their own futures. The officer said police were also looking into WhatsApp groups organising the protests that included Indian students based abroad. “In cases we have found whatsapp numbers that are operating from Indian students abroad. We are looking into identifying them but we are trying to discourage students to protest and get FIRs against them which would hamper their future and processes like passport verification,” the officer said.
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