New Delhi: Union Ministers J P Nadda and Jitendra Singh met innovator and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram, shortly after he was shifted there from Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital for further treatment.
Wangchuk was discharged from Safdarjung Hospital earlier in the evening and taken to Medanta in an ambulance under tight security, in compliance with a Delhi High Court order. He was admitted to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) under the supervision of Dr. Sushila Kataria, an internal medicine specialist, according to hospital officials.
The meeting held on Tuesday night between the two Union ministers and Wangchuk came as the activist continued his indefinite hunger strike, which entered its 24th day on Tuesday.
The meeting came a day after the activist said he would continue his indefinite hunger strike until protesting student leaders were allowed to meet MPs at Parliament House, or parliamentarians visit him at the hospital.
On Monday, Wangchuk, in a handwritten note from Safdarjung Hospital, said he would continue his fast until protesting student leaders were allowed to meet Members of Parliament at Parliament House or he himself was permitted to meet parliamentarians at the hospital.
Earlier on Tuesday, Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali J. Angmo, said he had decided to continue the hunger strike until Parliament takes cognisance of the Delhi Police’s alleged action against protesters during the ‘Sansad Chalo’ march.
She alleged that students were beaten, lathi-charged and tear-gassed, and said Wangchuk had extended his fast in solidarity with them until their demands were heard in Parliament.
Reacting to allegations of several agitators attacking police personnel, Angmo said: “I was in the truck, when the police entered and forcefully tried to take Abhijit too. Around me, everyone made a human chain and protected me. If this was happening to me when I was behind that truck, then whatever happened with students – we have all seen it. If I had been alone and something was done to me; I would have defended myself too.”
Fact checker challenges Delhi Police, PIB claims about batons fitted with nails
Fact-checking website Alt News has challenged the Delhi Police and the Press Information Bureau’s (PIB) claim that videos purportedly showing police personnel carrying batons fitted with nails were unrelated to the July 20 protest over the alleged NEET paper leak.
The controversy began after videos circulated on social media showing what appeared to be Delhi Police personnel carrying nail-studded batons during the protest. Delhi Police dismissed the videos as “false and misleading”, asserting that they were not from the July 20 demonstrations. The PIB Fact Check unit also amplified the police’s claim.
However, in a report published on Tuesday, Alt News said its independent verification found that the videos were indeed recorded during the July 20 protest in New Delhi.
According to the fact-checking website, it obtained the original video files from those who recorded them and examined their metadata, which it said showed that at least one of the videos was recorded on July 20, 2026, at around 4.33 pm. Alt News also said it geolocated the footage to the area outside The Imperial Hotel on Janpath Road in central Delhi.
The report said it additionally interviewed a protester present at the scene and the individual who claimed to have recorded one of the videos. Based on this evidence, Alt News concluded that a Delhi Police officer carrying a baton fitted with nails was present during the July 20 protest, contradicting the police’s assertion that the footage was unrelated to the demonstration.
At the same time, Alt News noted that its investigation did not establish that the nail-studded baton was used to assault protesters. The report’s conclusion was limited to verifying the authenticity of the videos and their connection to the July 20 protest.
Uttarakhand HC slams police for detaining man bound for CJP protest
The Uttarakhand High Court on Tuesday strongly criticised the state police for detaining Prabhat Dhyani (62), president of the Uttarakhand Parivartan Party, at Rishikesh railway station while he was travelling to Delhi to join a Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP)-led protest over the alleged NEET paper leak.
Hearing a habeas corpus petition, a division bench of Justice Ravindra Maithani and Justice Siddharth Sah questioned the legal basis for the detention, observing that every citizen has the constitutional right to move freely across the country.
The court remarked that participating in a protest is not a cognisable offence and described the police action as “gundagardi” (hooliganism).
The state defended the action by citing provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), but the bench rejected the justification, noting that a prohibitory order issued by Delhi Police could not be enforced by Uttarakhand Police before Dhyani reached the capital.
The court also took exception to a police diary entry stating that Dhyani’s participation in the protest could tarnish the government’s image, asking whether the police were meant to protect constitutional rights or the government’s image.
It directed that the officer who detained Dhyani be made a party to the case, issued notices to senior police officials, including the DGP, and posted the matter for further hearing on September 16.
