A group of demonstrators was stopped by authorities on Monday while attempting to reach the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer's office in Bengaluru, where they had gathered to call for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's removal over what they described as irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision exercise.

Demonstrators further alleged that officers used physical force against both themselves and photojournalists who were present when authorities moved to disperse the gathering. Akshay M Hakay, the Deputy Commissioner of Police for the Central division, told reporters that restraint and sensitivity guided the police response in those conditions.

Tension between media representatives and police personnel was noted by the official, who described the incidents as unintended and arising from difficult conditions on the ground. Demonstrators put forward separate claims that women among them had been treated improperly by Bengaluru police. Criticism was also directed at Delhi Police over the manner in which demonstrators were reportedly handled.

Police in Bengaluru took into custody a number of demonstrators — among them women and student groups — who had gathered to oppose the SIR exercise, with those detained near KR Circle and outside the Chief Electoral Officer's office being transported away by bus. Those involved in the process called for it to be scrapped entirely.

Footage shared across social media platforms — whose authenticity had not been independently verified — appeared to capture news photographers being physically handled by officers during the dispersal of demonstrators. During the disorder that followed, one video journalist's handset hit the ground and shattered, while officers were separately accused of attempting to seize recording equipment from the group. The demonstrators further claimed that officers behaved inappropriately toward women, including forcibly removing their clothing.

DCP (Central) Hakay posted on X that a gathering of demonstrators had formed near KR Circle without advance notice or authorisation, adding that such an assembly ran counter to the High Court's directive requiring protests to be held at designated locations. He noted that the group had first been directed toward Freedom Park as an alternative location, but when that instruction went unheeded, officers detained them under applicable legal provisions before letting them go.

The DCP maintained that officers handled the situation with appropriate restraint and care given the conditions on the ground, while also noting that at least one instance of friction between journalists and police personnel had come to the department's attention. He described the incident as entirely unintentional, adding that it took place under considerable pressure. A statement from Bengaluru Police called on the public to follow the High Court's directives, limiting demonstrations to Freedom Park and keeping disruption to surrounding areas at a minimum.

According to a published statement from My Vote, My Right, an assembly of lawyers, students, activists, and academics set out on a non-violent procession toward the chief executive's office. According to the group's account, officers from Bengaluru City Police moved in to seize the placards and take people into custody before any demonstration had actually got under way. According to the group, people across a wide range of ages — children and older adults among them — were grabbed and taken into custody by officers, including some who had not yet left their positions.

Footage recorded aboard a bus where she was being held showed a female demonstrator calling Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar a "hypocrite," raising the question of why he had travelled to Delhi to join Rahul Gandhi in protesting against the Election Commission at a time when authorities in Bengaluru were reportedly blocking marchers from reaching the CEO's office.