Prateek Tanmay
3 min readNew DelhiJul 29, 2026 02:48 AM IST
Junaid Malik (30), who volunteered at the recently concluded protest at Jantar Mantar by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), moved the Supreme Court on Monday, alleging arbitrary and coercive actions by the police against him and his family.
In his petition, Malik, who has amassed over a million followers on Instagram and was involved in distributing food and water at the protest site, alleged “harassment” and “intimidation”, stating that the police action violated provisions under Article 21 of the Constitution. The petition stated that on July 24, he was returning from Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital after receiving an anti-rabies injection and had barely travelled 50 metres in an autorickshaw when he and his friend were allegedly intercepted by a white Scorpio car that did not bear a number plate. He alleged that four-five policemen forced them into the vehicle, adding that they were blindfolded and asked to keep their heads bowed.
Malik, a law graduate from Meerut’s Chaudhary Charan Singh University, salleged that the car was driven for 30-45 minutes to an “undisclosed location”, after which the policemen took their phones and went through their contacts. They were allegedly taken to another location and detained for the night, the petition stated.
“A senior police official, the next morning on July 25, questioned the applicant and his friend regarding the sources of funding for the food distribution at the (protest) site,” the plea stated, adding that they were threatened and dropped at a location situated around 16 km away from the Dehradun-Mussoorie Road in Uttarakhand. It added that they had to book a cab to return to Delhi.
According to the petition, Malik’s “illegal detention” followed his father Mustafa’s alleged detention and questioning by the Ghaziabad police on July 23 at a police station in Masuri. Mustafa was allegedly questioned for six hours during which bank account details of the entire family were sought. The petition also stated that he was asked about Malik’s whereabouts and told to persuade him to return home.
The police allegedly also raided Malik’s home on July 24, and sought bank account details and IDs of all the family members. According to the plea, another police team reached Malik’s sister’s house in Meerut and picked up her father-in-law and brother-in-law.
When contacted, Masuri ACP Sunil Kumar said: “Nobody was detained. Two-three persons were called to the police station for questioning…They were asked about Junaid and to specify their relation with him.”
Story continues below this ad
Asked why they were called for questioning, the officer said, “There are thousands of matters for which a person is called, including social issues, for which people keep coming. They told us who Junaid is and what their relation is with him.”
The SHO at Masuri police station said that the police had received a complaint and had called Mustafa to the police station in connection with it. “He was not picked up, but rather called to the police station through the head of the village. Nobody was detained,” the officer said.
On Tuesday, All India Students’ Association president Neha Bora, who was among those leading the protest, said that she had learnt that Junaid needed legal help. “We’re helping him regarding that,” she said.
