New Delhi: Hunting for discarded wrappers and food packets from the Jantar Mantar protest site, Delhi Police has been tracking down restaurants in the area, asking them why they “supported” youth protesters who, on July 25, celebrated the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan as the symbol of repeated examination failures. The goal of the police? To make eateries stop supplying “free food” or making bulk deliveries to the venue of the protest.Pradhan stepped down under duress, meeting a key demand of the protesters led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) after a sustained 36 days of protests and hunger strikes at Jantar Mantar for 36 days.Soon after, Delhi Police began hounding every helping hand that extended support to the protesters – even if it was in the smallest possible way. The owners of several cafes and restaurants told The Wire that Delhi Police reached out to them, asking them to not supply food to the site anymore.“They called us to the police station, asked us which NGO we were doing this for, or who told us to supply food. We did it because we supported the movement, we supplied food aid out of our restaurant for almost a week. We were simply harassed for supporting the CJP’s cause. We were even receiving hate messages over Instagram” one owner told The Wire.The restaurant has claimed that they were even made to delete social media posts supporting the protest. “They were able to scare many other restaurants who supported the movement with food. For small brands, it is very risky and also isolates us in a way,” said the owner said.The owner of Mahabelly Zachariah Jacob said he has learnt of several restaurant owners contacting each other in the face of the catering crackdown by Delhi Police. “From what I understand, a few restaurants that supplied food in large quantities were contacted by the police. We continue to stand by the values the movement advocated for and the broader ethos that many young people rallied around,” Jacob told The Wire.Tactics to identify and penalise supporters unfold despite Union Minister J.P. Nadda’s assurances to the CJP that police would stop using force and that no further crackdowns or cases would be filed against protesters against examination scandals. After Pradhan resigned, the CJP accused the government of breaking these promises as detentions in Delhi and other states, which saw similar protests, continued.Another person associated with a café that faced harassment for supporting CJP, and which had not deleted its posts supporting the protests at the time of writing, said it believes in the idea the movement backed. “Many social media accounts ‘warned’ us that they would stop ordering from us; many appreciated us. Even our delivery partners were calling us, saying that police was stopping them, even confiscating [the] food. It is unfair to hound people for supplying food to a peaceful movement,” this person said.A few other eateries, such as Garnita’s in Lodhi Colony and Dumbo Deli in Meherchand Market and New Friends Colony reached out to protesters to take shelter at their restaurants, provided them with a glass of water, free shelter, and refreshments.Since the protest, such restaurants have reportedly been at the target of the Police. On July 20, when students sought shelter and were fleeing from police lathi charge and tear gas during the Cockroach Janta Party’s “Chalo Sansad” march, Blue Tokai‘s Janpath outlet provided shelter, free water refills and first-aid to students and activists.This crackdown unfolds as women protesters accused of “insulting” the armed forces or “abusing” the prime minister face online harassment, including death and rape threats, doxxing and the circulation of personal information. Social media accounts have shared videos and photographs of a number of such women at the protests, and made public their personal details such as phone numbers and home addresses. This has resulted in several instances of harassment, including rape and death threats.The Wire wrote to Swiggy and Zomato to get their official statement on whether and how their delivery staff was treated by Delhi Police when they were on duty to deliver food packages to the protest site. The Wire also contacted Delhi Police to request their response on why restaurant owners were being intimidated despite Nadda assurances.The article will be updated when responses are received.