The protesters arrested while trying to stop the felling of trees in Aarey Colony for the metro car shed on the night of October 4, have alleged that they were treated appallingly by the cops, who badly manhandled them and also made them stand half-naked inside the jail, like criminals.

They now want all charges against them dropped at once. "We are not the criminals, drop the charges," echoed the demand of 14 of the 29 accused on Thursday. The protestors recounted what exactly transpired that night. They have been accused of assaulting public servants and assembling in an unlawful manner. "We were engaged in a peaceful protest. Is that a crime? Why did they lathi-charge us? The government must apologise," said Kapil Agrawal, a student of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.