New Delhi: Around 1,000 protesters were detained across the national Capital Saturday while on their way to take part in the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led agitation against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, police said.
Security has been beefed up across the National Capital Region (NCR), including border areas, in view of the protests.
Indian Railways cancelled and rescheduled several trains that were set to arrive in New Delhi, while the DMRC has shut the entry and exit of 45 Metro stations amid measures taken by the Delhi Police to stop agitators from reaching the protest venue at Jantar Mantar.
The police had said Friday that permission for the CJP’s protest has been denied due to the organisers’ failure to comply with legal directions and their own undertakings during an earlier protest.
Earlier Saturday, CJP leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained by the police from Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi while on their way to Jantar Mantar to stage a protest, demanding CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in the conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Delhi Police personnel entered the aircraft carrying Dipke after it landed at IGI Airport.
Dipke posted the video showing the Delhi Police team entering the flight as he, along with other CJP members, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, were detained from the flight itself.
In a video posted on his social media handle, Dipke was heard telling the police, “…I have come here to be arrested; arrest me.”
The CJP announced the detentions in a post on its social media handle, stating: “Abhijeet Dipke DETAINED! Saurav Das DETAINED! Ashutosh Ranka DETAINED!”
Social media influencer Dhruv Rathee was also detained at his residence in Gurugram.
According to a post on the X handle of the CJP, around 50 police personnel in plain clothes reached Rathee’s residence in Gurugram at around 8 a.m. and took him into preventive custody.
Meanwhile, several Opposition leaders including AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, party leader Gopal Rai and former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee were also detained while staging protests against the CEC over alleged irregularities in the conduct of the SIR of electoral rolls.
