Shaheen Khan, a freelance journalist, alleged that Saket police personnel assaulted her and colleague Nafisa Khan on September 3, 2026.
| Photo Credit: X/@4 PM News NetworkTwo journalists working for a digital news platform were allegedly assaulted by Delhi Police after they raised questions about a “cycle scam” at an event attended by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. As per one of the journalists, they were taken to Saket police station and beaten up in a closed room by a plain-clothes female police personnel. The Delhi Police denied the allegations and said that they were only removed from the event venue due to illegal parking.Shaheen Khan and Nafisa Khan, working with a digital news platform, 4PM News Network, were reporting the inauguration of a private hospital in Saket by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta. While recording a video, Ms. Shaheen Khan said, she referred to an alleged “cycle scam” linked to the Delhi government. After that, a few Delhi Police constables forcibly removed Ms. Shaheen Khan and Ms. Nafisa Khan from the venue and took them to Saket police station.In a video posted by the news outlet, Ms. Shaheen Khan can be seen reporting from the Saket police station. “We were forcibly brought to the police station, kept inside a room and a female police constable wearing pink coloured clothes assaulted us with sticks and slaps. My phone was snatched and when my brother called me, they saw ‘Khan’ in his name and began assaulting us with even greater force,” she said.Ms. Shaheen Khan alleged discrimination and threat of assault by the police personnel because they were Muslim. . The video showed multiple bruises on Ms. Shaheen Khan’s arms and Ms. Nafisa Khan’s leg. “I have spoken to them and they have said that the police have brutally assaulted them with sticks and slaps and the force used by the police intensified when they came to know Shaheen and Nafisa are Muslim,” said Sanjay Sharma, Editor-in-Chief of the news platform.He said that since the video of the “cycle scam” was posted on their platform, they had been facing constant harassment from government, especially when they posted an interview with AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj. “Our platform has faced suppression from the BJP governments earlier, where we had to take legal course to save our organisation,” he said. 4PM News has faced government action in the past, including a 2025 Centre-ordered blocking of its YouTube channel, which was later withdrawn, and another blocking order in March 2026 citing national security and public order. The Delhi High Court ordered restoration of the YouTube channel in May 2026, while allowing some videos to remain blocked temporarily.In August 2026, the Aam Aadmi Party had alleged irregularities in the Delhi government’s ₹90-crore procurement of 1.3 lakh bicycles for Class 9 girls, alleging inflated prices, restrictive tender conditions and supply of bicycles differing from specifications. The government has rejected the allegations, saying the procurement followed GeM procedures and was awarded to the lowest eligible bidder.Mr. Sharma said that they were planning to take legal recourse to bring the police constables to justice. “There were six police constables in all and we will demand suspension of all them. We will demand that CCTV footage of all the rooms be preserved,” he said. The Delhi Police have denied the claims of violence and said that the two women were removed from the event venue due to their illegally parked scooter on a VVIP route. “Two women had obstructed the designated VVIP route by parking their scooty near the venue. Despite repeated requests and instructions to remove the vehicle and clear the route, they refused to comply. In view of security and safety protocol, both women were taken to the local police station for further enquiry. Claims suggesting otherwise including allegations of assault for asking questions to the Chief Minister are totally false and misleading,” the Delhi Police said in an X post. “Even if the issue were illegal parking, does that call for such brutal violence,” Mr. Sharma asked. Both journalists are currently not in a state to give their statements, he said. As the videos were posted on social media, they immediately went viral with senior leaders questioning police conduct. They also urged Press Council of India to take suo moto cognisance of this matter and launch an independent investigation against the police officials “who tried to violently suppress press freedom”.The Press Club of India in a statement condemned the police action. “We condemn and call for punitive action against the police officers posted at Saket police station including the Station House Officer for brutally assaulting freelance journalists Shaheen Khan and Nafisa Khan. We urge Commissioner of Police Anurag Kumar to launch free and fair investigation against the police officials involved in the assault,” the statement said. Published - September 03, 2026 05:01 pm IST
