Activist Tehseen Poonawalla claims house arrest before E20, sugar price protest

Poonawalla alleged that police personnel placed him under house arrest as he prepared to protest what he has described as a "sugar scam", while also opposing the government's policy of blending petrol with up to 20 percent ethanol.

Videos posted by Poonawalla on X showed him questioning police personnel outside his residence and asking why he was being prevented from travelling to the protest site.

He later offered sugarcane juice to the officers stationed outside his home, turning the incident into a pointed political gesture linked to his criticism of sugar and ethanol policies.

Police cite law-and-order concerns

In one of the videos, Poonawalla can be heard asking police personnel why he was not being allowed to go to Jantar Mantar.

A police officer told him that permission for his visit to the protest site had been "cancelled".

The officer also cited concerns that allowing Poonawalla to proceed could create a law-and-order situation if supporters joined him.

The officer further referred to the possibility that "some wrong people" could become part of the gathering.

Poonawalla questioned whether police could prevent him from protesting merely because of what might happen if other people joined him.

The videos shared by the activist did not show a written detention order being presented to him.

They did, however, show police telling him not to leave and explaining that the cancellation of permission was linked to potential law-and-order concerns.

Poonawalla calls it ‘house arrest’

Speaking to India Today Digital, Poonawalla said Team Bharat, the citizen advocacy group founded by him, had planned a peaceful demonstration over rising sugar prices.

He alleged that government policies had contributed to higher sugar prices while benefiting politically connected families.

"The Delhi Police, as usual, came over to my house and has detained me," Poonawalla told the media.

"I am under house arrest. No documentation... I just offered them [the police] a glass of sugarcane juice," he added.

Poonawalla later posted a series of messages on X claiming that he and others had been detained and suggesting that he could face arrest if he attempted to leave his residence.

He also linked the police action to protests held at Jantar Mantar on Friday, which officers cited while explaining why his planned visit had been stopped.

"...Yesterday's (sic) kids were singing Vande Mataram and Hanuman Chalisa!! How were they wrong and how have we been detained?" Poonawalla posted on X after police told him that Friday's protest at Jantar Mantar "had issues".

Protest targets E20 policy and sugar prices

Poonawalla's proposed demonstration had two closely linked targets: the rise in sugar prices and the Centre's E20 ethanol-blending policy.

Under the E20 policy, petrol is blended with up to 20 percent ethanol.

The government has promoted ethanol blending as part of its broader fuel strategy, while critics have raised concerns about its impact on vehicles and consumers.

Poonawalla has become a vocal critic of the policy and has repeatedly used the terms "Sugar Scam" and "Ethanol Scam" when referring to what he describes as the links between sugar production, ethanol blending and politically connected interests.

The activist alleged that the ethanol-blending policy was "destroying our vehicles".

"They don't want us to protest against the ethanol 20 blending policy, which is destroying our vehicles," he said.

Poonawalla also linked the two issues to household finances, arguing that higher sugar prices and concerns over vehicle costs were placing additional pressure on ordinary consumers.

"They don't want us to protest against the rising sugar prices and against the scam that is making kids of Netas millionaires and completely taking away our peace of mind — both of our vehicles and of our house budget," he said.

He also posted on X: "The sugar scam is a bitter scam in the face of a policy."

Sugarcane juice becomes protest symbol

The most striking moment of the confrontation came when Poonawalla offered sugarcane juice to the police personnel outside his residence.

Soon after sharing a video showing officers preventing him from leaving for Jantar Mantar, he posted another video in which he offered them glasses of sugarcane juice.

The gesture was intended as a sarcastic reference to his criticism of rising sugar prices and the wider sugar-ethanol policy.

By offering a product derived from sugarcane to the officers, Poonawalla sought to connect the immediate confrontation with the economic concerns at the centre of his planned protest.

The gesture subsequently attracted attention on social media, although Poonawalla continued to focus on what he described as the more serious issue of being prevented from demonstrating against the E20 policy.

Earlier confrontation over E20 protest

Saturday's incident was not the first confrontation between Poonawalla and Delhi Police over his opposition to the government's ethanol-blending policy.

On July 31, Poonawalla had announced plans for a solo march from APJ Abdul Kalam Marg to Gandhi Smriti on Tees January Marg.

He intended to stage a day-long hunger strike against the E20 policy.

The announcement followed what Poonawalla alleged was a denial of permission for a proposed Team Bharat "Gaadi March" towards Parliament.

He subsequently continued his campaign against E20, arguing that the policy could have consequences for vehicle owners and household budgets.

The latest protest expanded that campaign by bringing sugar prices into the same political narrative.

Poonawalla's allegations over sugar and ethanol policies

Poonawalla has repeatedly alleged that the government's sugar and ethanol policies favour politically connected families while increasing costs for ordinary consumers.

He has used the labels "Sugar Scam" and "Ethanol Scam" on social media to describe what he portrays as an interconnected policy framework involving sugar production, ethanol blending and fuel policy.

The allegations remain Poonawalla's claims.

The videos from Saturday's incident show police preventing him from proceeding to Jantar Mantar and citing law-and-order concerns, but they do not themselves establish the broader allegations he has made about the government's policies or the identities of any alleged beneficiaries.

The immediate dispute, however, centres on whether Poonawalla was lawfully prevented from attending the proposed protest and the basis on which Delhi Police cancelled his permission to travel to the demonstration site.