New Delhi: For the second day running and despite multiple journalists’ bodies across the country and Asia decrying their behaviour, the Delhi Police continued to detained journalists on October 11. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court said journalists doing their duties cannot be detained or harassed.The Delhi Police, which had, in the days leading up to the protests released a controversial set of guidelines for journalists, had noted in it that reporters on the ground should display their press cards prominently. However, on October 10 and 11, police displayed little regard for the press card and several journalists were detained.While yesterday’s detentions largely concentrated on independent journalists, today several mainstream media journalists were taken away, including from outlets like Hindustan Times and Indian Express, and the news agency PTI.Journalist M. Rajshekhar, a frequent contributor to The Wire, was among those detained, it was reported. Senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta was also detained. Independent journalist Shyam Meera Singh was detained at Connaught Place after being heckled at and abused by Hindutva activists, Scroll.in‘s Ayush Tiwari reported.Reporters Without Borders has placed the count of detained journalists over the last two days at 16.At least 16 journalists were brutally detained while covering public demonstrations in #India. In addition to the four journalists already mentioned, RSF has learned that Anushka Bhardwaj (#BusinessStandard), Hritik Joshi and Rahul Charas (@NavbharatTimes), Shoaib Daniyal (#Scroll), Anshu (@newslaundry ), Saurabh Sharma (@Reuters ), Jagriti Trisha (BOOM), Shivang Shukla (Mo), Neeraj Jha (@moliticsindia), and freelance journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta were also forcibly detained in #Delhi, along with Kinjal (@AltNews) in #Ahmedabad and Divya Aslesha (Scroll) in #Pune.Covering events of public interest is not a crime. It is their job. The police’s actions against the press are unacceptable.— RSF (@RSF_inter) October 11, 2026The short-form video news outlet Peek TV has posted on X that its journalists Vedanta Agarwal and Sara Khan were violently dragged by Delhi Police personnel today while they were reporting on the police detaining peaceful protesters in Connaught Place.#PeekOnGround: Peek TV journalists Vedanta Agarwal and Sara Khan were violently dragged by Delhi Police personnel on Sunday while reporting on the police detaining peaceful protesters in Connaught Place. https://t.co/Hdzia6Chw6— Peek TV (@PeekTV_in) October 11, 2026Police also detained and brutally beat up The Caravan’s assistant multimedia producer, Ryan Thomas, the magazine has said.The Delhi Police detained and brutally beat up The Caravan’s assistant multimedia producer, Ryan Thomas, on 11 October. Ryan was covering the protests against Gyanesh Kumar and SIR, which the government has tried to quash with an unprecedented police mobilisation in the capital, with multiple trains and metros halted, and with internet shut down across central Delhi.Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court had directed that, among other things, journalists “shall not be hindered in discharge of their professional duties in any manner whatsoever.” Police tried to seize Ryan phone and force him to delete footage he had recorded.Video by Amrita Singh (@singhamritaa), Puja Sen (@psen9) and Shahid Tantray (@shahidtantray)— The Caravan (@thecaravanindia) October 12, 2026The Indian Express newspaper posted on X that three journalists from its Hindi outlet – Shashwat, Siya, and Vijay – have been detained by Delhi Police while reporting. “Even after informing them that they are journalists who had come to do their job, they were forcibly put into a bus.”The outlet noted the serious and grave charge of Siya’s phone having been seized by police. It also posted a video sent by Shashwat from his detention vehicle.इंडियन एक्सप्रेस हिंदी के 3 पत्रकार – शाश्वत, सिया और विजय, को दिल्ली पुलिस ने रिपोर्टिंग के दौरान डिटेन कर लिया है. ये बताने पर भी, कि सभी पत्रकार हैं और अपना काम करने आए हैं, उन्हें बस में जबरन बिठा लिया गया. पुलिस की बस दिल्ली के कनॉट प्लेस से गुज़र रही थी, जब शाश्वत ने अपने मोबाइल कैमरा से वीडियो बनाकर हमतक पहुंचाया. हमारी साथी सिया का फ़ोन पुलिस द्वारा छीन लिया गया है.— Indian Express Hindi (@IEhindi) October 11, 2026Journalist Sreenivasan Jain posted on X at 3.33 pm that at least six more journalists were detained and shoved into a van by Delhi Police as they were asking the police personnel about the detention of a journalist moments ago at the same location.“As I question the police, one of them tells me: ‘This is not the right time to ask anything’,” Jain posted.Breaking: at least six more journalists detained, shoved into a van by Delhi Police as they were asking the cops about the detention of a journalist moments ago at the same location.As I question the police, one of them tells me: ‘this is not the right time to ask anything’. https://t.co/RYAJqElDYk— Sreenivasan Jain (@SreenivasanJain) October 11, 2026Jain has also posted a video showing Delhi Police bundling a woman reporter into a van, saying that this came “despite her and us repeatedly telling the police that she’s with the media, and showing her badge.”Alarming: on the day the Supreme Court ordered the police to allow journalists to do their job, Delhi Police bundle a woman reporter into the van. This despite her and us repeatedly telling the police that she’s with the media, and showing her badge. https://t.co/ufhZmMDlZD— Sreenivasan Jain (@SreenivasanJain) October 11, 2026Reporter Hrishikesh Sharma posted about journalists having been detained in a DTC bus.Special detention bus for Journalists by Delhi Police. Delhi Police detains journalists, including one from PTI. https://t.co/wtXYcNKFGb— Hrishikesh Sharma (@hrishikesh____) October 11, 2026Aslah Kayyalakkath, the founder of Maktoob Media, has also spoken of serious apathy by the Delhi Police to targeted religious attacks on the outlet’s journalists.“Maktoob’s journalists also witnessed the group of men harassing other journalists and recorded the testimony of a female journalist who said she had been harassed by them.”The Committee to Protect Journalists has reacted to today’s detentions by calling on the Delhi Police “to honour the government’s assurance to the Supreme Court that journalists will not be impeded in their professional duties and to refrain from targeting journalists covering the protests.”“As the world’s largest democracy, India has a special responsibility to uphold press freedom and protect journalists’ constitutional right to report freely and without interference,” it said.A day ago, condemnations came from the Committee to Protect Journalists, the digital news platforms’ collective Digipub, and the National Alliance of Journalists, and earlier, the Editors Guild of India.The Wire’s Jahnavi Sen, Sravasti Dasgupta and Antara Baruah reported having seen police round people up into buses with no attention to press cards at all. Sen was almost rounded up when other journalists clamoured for her release, forcing police personnel to let her go.