Archive · 10 Oct 2026
Scroll Reporter Divya Aslesha Detained While Covering Pune Protest
Divya Aslesha is a reporter who was covering a protest in Pune.
She said police were taking protesters away in buses.
She told officers she was a reporter and showed her press card.
She says they still took her onto a bus after she kept taking pictures.
She and the protesters were taken to a police station.
A senior officer told her she had been detained by mistake.
Police let her go, but she said the protesters were still at the station.
Scroll journalist Divya Aslesha said Pune police tried twice to pull her into a bus while she covered a protest near Shaniwar Wada.
She said she identified herself as a reporter and showed her press card, but was later taken away after continuing to take photographs.
Aslesha reported being held on a police bus for about half an hour with protesters, without being told where they were going.
The group was taken to Lashkar police station, where a senior officer told Aslesha her detention was a mistake, she said.
Police released Aslesha, but she said the protesters remained inside the police station.
- Who
- Scroll reporter Divya Aslesha and protesters, many of them young women; Pune police detained them.
- What
- Aslesha was detained while covering a protest and later released; she said protesters remained at the police station.
- When
- Around 3:30 p.m.; the account was posted on October 10, 2026.
- Where
- Near Shaniwar Wada and Lal Mahal in Pune; the group was taken to Lashkar police station.
- Why
- The police did not tell those detained the cause, according to Aslesha. A senior officer later said she had been detained by mistake.
Aslesha’s account
Police account
Reason for her detention
Aslesha’s account
Aslesha said officers twice tried to pull her into a bus despite her identifying herself as a reporter, and later said she could not leave after continuing to take photographs. She said the detention was not a mistake.
Police account
A senior police officer told Aslesha that police had detained her “by mistake,” according to her account. The article provides no further police explanation.
- Reporter
- Divya Aslesha of Scroll
- Approximate time
- Around 3:30 p.m.
- Protest location
- Shaniwar Wada area, near Lal Mahal, Pune
- Detention duration on bus
- About half an hour
- Police station
- Lashkar police station, about 4 km away
- Police response to Aslesha
- A senior officer said she had been detained by mistake
- Status reported
- Aslesha was released; she said protesters remained at the station