‘Picked Up Without Procedure’: Workers, Activists Protest Against ‘Illegal Arrests’ By Noida, Haryana Police

Workers, activists, students and academics gathered at Jantar Mantar on Wednesday to protest against what they termed the “illegal arrest” and “false implication” of workers and labour-rights activists following the recent unrest in Noida and Gurugram.

The protest was organised by groups including the Campaign for Release of Workers and Activists of Noida (CaRWAN), the Revolutionary Workers’ Party of India (RWPI), Disha Students’ Organisation and Naujawan Bharat Sabha. Retired and serving academics from institutions including Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Delhi University (DU) such as Prof. Nandita Narain, Prof. Madhu Prasad and Prof. P.K. Vijayan also addressed the gathering.

Protesters raised slogans such as “Mazdoor ekta zindabad” and “Inquilaab zindabad”, and demanded the immediate release of those arrested. 

On April 9, hundreds of contractual workers gathered near the NSEZ Metro station in Noida, standing under the harsh sun with a single demand: a minimum wage of Rs 20,000 a month. By April 13, the protests had spread across the industrial belt, bringing traffic to a halt and tensions to a boil. In Sector 84, vehicles were set on fire; two were gutted. There were reports of stone pelting, vandalised police property, even a damaged police vehicle. Tear gas filled the air as police tried to disperse the crowds.

What began as a demand for wages quickly turned into a crackdown. Over 300 people were arrested and seven FIRs registered in connection with the protests, according to Gautam Buddha Nagar Police Commissioner Laxmi Singh. The Uttar Pradesh government later said that at least 66 “key individuals” were formally arrested, claiming that 45 of them were not factory workers but “external elements” who had incited violence.

Among those arrested were workers and activists, including Aditya Anand, Rupesh Roy, Satyam Verma and Himanshu Thakur. Several of them have been described by the police as “masterminds” behind the April 13 violence. 

What unfolded in Noida was not an isolated eruption—it was the latest link in a chain that had been building across the industrial belt of north India. Thousands of contractual workers in Haryana gathered in the month Of April, clashing with police while demanding higher minimum wages and better conditions.

'Picked Up Without Procedure'

Protesting activists, who have been in constant touch with the families and lawyers of those arrested, alleged that arrests were carried out in violation of legal procedure.

Priyamvada Sharma said workers had initially taken to the streets with “very basic demands” related to wages, but the response had been a crackdown. She alleged that people were picked up in plain clothes, sometimes from metro stations, without being informed of the charges against them.

She further claimed that in several cases, families were not informed of the arrests and FIRs were filed after detention. “When someone gets bail in one case, another FIR is immediately added,” she said, alleging a pattern of targeting those associated with the protests.

Manisha Devi, mother of Himanshu Thakur; one of the arrested student activists, who was preparing for a  PhD entrance exam, said the family was not informed about the arrest. He was picked up from his rented apartment in Shalimar Bagh. 

“We got to know about it a day later. No one told us anything officially,” she said, adding that they later learnt that multiple FIRs had been filed. She alleged that legal procedures for arrest, including timely production before a magistrate, were not followed.

Calling the situation “illegal”, she said, “People are being picked up, devices are being taken, but nothing is being done according to the law.”

“My son was sincere and always stood up for what he believed was right. He cared deeply about others. As a mother, I often felt anxious as he was very vocal about socio-political issues, but he never held back,” she told Outlook, adding that she now worries about his future.

“He has also cleared the NET exam, he’s a bright student. I’m worried about him.” 

Thakur is among seven activists, two of them women, who have been arrested for supporting workers’ rights. Fellow protesters claimed that some of those detained were not even in Noida or Delhi when the protests took place, and that others were picked up merely for speaking about the issue. 

‘Fight For Basic Rights’

Workers present at the protest reiterated that the unrest in Noida, Manesar and Gurgaon was rooted in long-standing concerns. For them, the issue remained grounded in everyday life: wages that don’t match inflation, work without security, and a system that feels stacked against them. 

Vishnu Prasad, a former steel plant worker from Wazirpur, who was present at the protest, said he earned around ₹9,000 a month while working 12-hour shifts, with an additional four hours of overtime for which he was not paid extra.

“There were no holidays. No leave,” he told Outlook. 

Prasad said he left factory work during the COVID-19 pandemic after units shut down and has since been working in a vegetable market on a daily-wage basis. 

For him, the demand for ₹20,000 a month is not excessive—it is the bare minimum. In fact, he argues, even ₹23,000, often cited as an official wage benchmark, is insufficient. 

“You cannot save anything. In today’s inflation, a fair wage should be more than ₹1,000 a day,” he said. “Only then can you educate your children, pay rent, and live with some dignity.” 

Hasim, a garment worker, with nearly two decades experience in jeans manufacturing, told Outlook that they are paid per piece—₹16.20 for every pair of pants he stitches. The irony is not lost on him: the same garments, he said, are sold under major brands at prices far beyond what he could ever afford.

“We make them, but we can’t buy them,” he said. 

Rates, he added, have barely changed over the years. Sometimes, they effectively fall, when designs become more complex but wages do not rise accordingly. Factory owners, he said, are quick to shut down any conversation about increases. “If you want more, they say you can leave.”

Despite decades in the trade, his earnings remain unstable. Rent for a single-room home is ₹3,500. Electricity is charged separately. Basic expenses, milk, cooking gas, school needs, stretch whatever he brings in.

“We just somehow survive,” he said.

For workers like Hasim, the protests are not abstract politics. They are about survival and about the consequences of demanding it.

“When people raise their voice, they are called Naxal or anti-national,” he said. “But we are workers Indian workers, which is why I am here today.”

Kavita, another protester, is a domestic worker who has lived in Delhi for over a decade, narrates a similar story from a different sector. She earns about ₹9,000 a month, working from 8 am to 6 pm in a single household. There are no fixed holidays. If she takes leave, even due to illness, her pay is cut.

Before this, she worked in a factory for ₹7,000 a month, putting in 12-hour days without overtime. Now, as the sole earning member of her family, she supports three children and a husband undergoing treatment for mental health issues. Her son dropped out of school after Class 10 to help with expenses.

For Kavita, the protest was deeply personal, not just because of wages, but because of the people who were arrested.

“They used to teach our children for free,” she said, referring to some of the activists. “Since they were arrested, my children have stopped studying.”

Activists said they would continue demonstrations until those arrested are released and cases against them are withdrawn. 

The Gautam Buddha Nagar Police Commissionerate, meanwhile, has imposed a sweeping security cover across the district ahead of International Workers' Day, enforcing Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita from April 30 to May 8.