Asad Ashraf, a Delhi-based reporter at The Statesman, and two other journalists, Anupam Pandey and Vijay Pandey, were detained in Rajasthan on Saturday where they had gone to report on arms training camps that were being conducted by the Bajrang Dal in Hanumangarh.

The youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has been conducting camps in many parts of the country in which young children are trained to use arms and ammunition. The first ‘counter-terror training camp’ was held in Ayodhya in May 2016, organised by the Bajrang Dal. The ‘drills’ shot to the limelight after videos of the rigorous training sessions went viral, following which an FIR was registered against the organisers for promoting enmity among different communities.

Ashraf said that the camps in Hanumangarh, like most others, did not see the police intervening. When he asked the police if they were aware of the Bajrang Dal’s activities in the area, the police denied it.