According to the claims made by the protesting students, the video was secretly recorded and has since gone viral on social media. In the footage, the police officer is allegedly heard warning students that if they returned to protest, he would plant 50 grams of drugs in each of their pockets, after which they would face serious consequences. The officer also allegedly tells them that they would not even be granted bail. The exact location in Maharashtra where the video was recorded has not yet been confirmed.
The controversy emerged as student demonstrations supporting the Cockroach Janata Party's protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi spread across Mumbai and several other parts of Maharashtra. The movement is centered on the demand for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET-UG examination paper leak issue.
Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) legislator Rohit Pawar shared the video on social media and launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party. He stated that no one in the world would believe there was still any doubt about the Bharatiya Janata Party's alleged involvement in trapping activists in false cases to suppress the protest movement. He questioned whether the individual in the video was a police officer or a drug trafficker and demanded that the government immediately register a criminal case against the officer and conduct an investigation. Rohit Pawar further warned that any future attempt to implicate peacefully protesting students in false criminal cases would not be tolerated.
While sharing the video, Rohit Pawar also tagged Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, under whose charge the state's Home Department functions.
The protests are linked to the ongoing agitation at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi over the NEET-UG examination paper leak. The movement is being led by Abhijeet Dipke, a resident of Maharashtra. Two days earlier, Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray met Dipke and extended their support to the campaign. Dipke had been in the United States and returned to India to intensify the protest movement. His principal demand is the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan. The Cockroach Janata Party's agitation has also received support in several cities across Maharashtra, and Dipke recently organized a public programme in Pune.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray also reacted to the controversy, describing the allegations as extremely serious. He questioned whether the Maharashtra Police had become determined to ruin the lives of students. Raj Thackeray alleged that while students were peacefully exercising their democratic right to seek justice, the Home Department led by Devendra Fadnavis was attempting to implicate young protesters in false criminal cases. He demanded the immediate suspension of the concerned police officer and called for an inquiry into how many innocent people may have previously been implicated through similar alleged false cases.
The viral video has intensified the political confrontation surrounding the student protests and raised serious questions over the alleged conduct of law enforcement personnel. Although the authenticity of the video and the location where it was recorded remain unverified, the incident has prompted demands for an official investigation and accountability from the Maharashtra government.
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