New Delhi: The Union home ministry, it turns out, ordered the suspension of mobile internet services within a 500-metre radius at the makeshift ‘detention centres’ it set up for the October 10 protests.Considering the fact that peaceful protesters were rounded up, deposited and kept in these ‘centres’ for several hours, one of the only reasons for such a shutdown could be that they are moored after release and unable to contact lawyers or others for help once there.The internet shutdowns at these detention centres took place in addition to the 24-hour-long internet shutdown in a four-kilometre radius around Jantar Mantar, where the protest was to have been.The order to shut down internet on October 10 mentions eight detention centres.i. Chhatrasal Stadium, Model Townii. Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Bawanaiii. Yamuna Sports Complexiv. Jasola Sports Complex, PS Sarita Viharv. Community Centre, Daulatpur, PS Chhawlavi. Community Centre, Pandwala Khurd, PS Chhawlavii. Jangli Ram Stadium, Nizampur, Kanjhawala, Rohini Districtviii. Surajmal Stadium, NangloiThe order says internet will be suspended from 12 am to 10 pm on October 10 and around a radius of 500 metres at these places.The home secretary’s order invoked provisions of the Telecommunications Act, 2023 and the Telecommunications (Temporary Suspension of Services) Rules, 2024.It stated that the step was necessary “in the interest of public safety and averting public emergency” and to maintain public order.A day ago, during a special hearing, a bench of Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana stated that internet services cannot be completely shut down unless backed by severe, emergency law-and-order situations.As the Internet Freedom Foundation has highlighted, the order to shutdown internet in central Delhi on October 10 was communicated by a post made by news agency ANI, of a letter to internet service providers Airtel, Vodafone Idea, Jio and MTNL, by Manishi Chandra, the Deputy Commissioner of Delhi Police (Special Cell). The letter was marked ‘top secret’, and was thus an unpublished order.It says that mobile internet services will be blocked within a four km radius from the Janpath-Kartavya Path crossing.In addition to a nationwide crackdown on and detention of protesters planning to join the October 10 march at Jantar Mantar, including the closure of Metro stations and key trains, and visits and calls to people, the MeitY also issued an advisory to social media platforms to exercise “enhanced diligence” over potentially misleading content related to public events, Medianama reported.