E-Paper
7,000 detained, New Delhi deserted: Jantar Mantar 2.0 against CEC Gyanesh Kumar sees mega crackdown
The CJP called for another day of protests as the Supreme Court prepared to hear challenges to the crackdown.
Prefer HTon Google
About 41,000 security personnel turned the Capital into a fortress on Saturday to thwart a planned protest demanding the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, launching an unprecedented clampdown that saw the detention of 7,000 people and left large chunks of Delhi deserted.
Four former chief ministers and the leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) – a satirical movement that forced the resignation of the education minister three months ago – were among those detained as police cracked down on students, lawyers and politicians, successfully refusing passage to Jantar Mantar. Yet, sporadic protests bubbled up at different points of the city throughout the day, even as police rushed to smother the stirs.
“It’s very scary here. Why can’t we protest? Isn’t it our right?” said Shweta Singh, a student. The three leaders of the CJP had not been released at the time of going to print.
Reeling, the CJP announced a second consecutive day of stirs on Sunday, when the Supreme Court will also hold a special sitting to hear pleas filed against the controversial crackdown. The Opposition – which had brought central Delhi to a halt last week – has already declared fresh protests from Monday.
Authorities had imposed restrictions across the Capital since Friday, with thousands of police on the streets, internet services suspended near Jantar Mantar, cancellation of many trains to Delhi and the controversial closure of 45 Metro stations – the largest this year. Police started detaining people going to the protest – the authorities had earlier said they denied permission for the stir – by 1am on Saturday, laying spike strips on arterial roads, erecting thousands of yellow barricades that choked traffic, and putting up loudspeakers that blared prerecorded police warnings against unlawful gatherings.
The situation is unlikely to change on Sunday, said senior police officers, though train services are expected to return to normal.
Still, not everyone was deterred. Despite the brutal crackdown, small groups of people continued to gather in various parts of the city – Connaught Place, Janpath, outside Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, Dilli Haat, Safdarjung Airport flyover, Sansad Marg, Red Fort and Aurobindo Marg – and melted away as hundreds of police personnel rushed at them. Visuals showed police personnel dragging young people through the streets, hitting them with lathis, and standing by as members of some right-wing groups beat agitators. Some protesters spent the night in municipal toilets, others walked for hours from train and metro stations, and some even took shelter in the Gurdwara Bangla Sahib.
“My two friends and I faced assault because of the police and right wing goons. They entered the protest not once but thrice since last night. The police didn’t even stop them,” said a 21-year-old man from Shahdara, hiding at the gurdwara.
Some of the most dramatic moments of the day came around 10.30am at the Delhi airport when security personnel entered an Air India flight that had just landed and detained Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das of the CJP – a rare crackdown that was condemned by the Opposition.
“The flight was taken to the remote bay as assigned earlier. Delhi police personnel were issued airport entry passes. Delhi police officials detained the three passengers and escorted them through the cargo gate at the Delhi airport,” said an official.
In a video shared by the CJP, Dipke could be heard telling police officers who entered the aircraft, “We are here to be arrested, come and arrest us.”
Also Read | CJP protest: The law that allows Delhi Police to set up barricades, checkpoints and restrict traffic
Before the detention, police personnel told the CJP leaders that they did not have permission for the Jantar Mantar stir. Dipke said the CJP leaders were being detained as if they were criminals. He said that even former prime minister Indira Gandhi did not do this – a reference to the Emergency – adding that it amounted to dictatorship.
Under the Bharatiya Nyaya Suraksha Sanhita, a person can be temporarily detained for a maximum of 24 hours before producing them before a magistrate – unless it is under special laws.
The whereabouts of Dipke, Das and Ranka are not known, and Delhi Police did not respond to requests for comment on their location. The CJP on Saturday evening wrote to the Delhi Police commissioner seeking information on their location and called their detention “illegal.”
Throughout the day, police detained protesters from Jantar Mantar, Sansad Marg, Tolstoy Marg, Connaught Place, Palika Bazaar, DDU Marg, and then INA, Safdarjung Road and Red Fort. People walking on the road were denied passage, those living in hotels or residences on affected roads were asked to show identification and proof of residence, and internet access within hotels was checked. Many journalists alleged they were picked up. A lawyers’ protest was broken up and several detained – including a senior advocate who was dragged away by several policemen – prompting Chief Justice of India Surya Kant to intervene. Police nearly entered Gurdwara Bangla Sahib and detained two or three protesters.
Many protesters alleged brutality. A 26-year-old man at INA said he was dragged, pushed, and lifted by police personnel, and shoved into a bus around 5pm. “I am not hurt but they lifted me quite brutally. I was manhandled. I saw women being dragged into the bus. Six or seven police personnel would surround one protester,” he added.
Senior police officers said they used minimal force to detain all protesters and that everyone was released by 8pm. Some, they said, were released even before 6pm.
Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and other Aam Aadmi Party leaders such as Sanjay Singh and Saurabh Bhardwaj were detained from near Jantar Mantar after they started from Lodhi Estate and taken to Jafarpur Kalan police station. Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and other Trinamool Congress leaders were detained from the South Avenue area and were taken to Dwarka North police station.
“We were practically kidnapped and taken around in a vehicle for nearly two hours; we did not violate any law,” Banerjee said.
“The fight will continue. Gyanesh Kumar will have to resign. The vote theft must stop,” Kejriwal said.
Also Read | INDIA bloc to hold mega protest in Delhi on October 12, TMC says Mamata Banerjee to join
The BJP hit back. “What happened on the streets of Delhi today is extremely unfortunate. People from Congress + AAP + Left + CJP openly wreaked havoc in the name of protest. The Delhi Police, engaged in ensuring law and order, and all security forces were provoked, and deliberate attempts were made to create a confrontational situation,” chief minister Rekha Gupta said on X.
The crackdown ensured that Delhi Police didn’t allow people anywhere near Jantar Mantar and largely managed to snuff out smaller protests. But the CJP called for a larger agitation on Sunday and activist Sonam Wangchuk – whose fast during the July stir had galvanised support in favour of the CJP – warned of another agitation.
“I had never imagined that the biggest democracy in the world would be under an undeclared Emergency…I hope those arrested will be released soon. I will be compelled to consider an anshan fast or padyatra march if they are not released by tomorrow,” he posted on X.
The unrest is part of a longer string of events that have mounted pressure on Kumar over the controversial special intensive revision – which has already deleted 130 million names from India’s electoral rolls – and other allegations. The developments come after an Indian Express investigation said election commissioners SS Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded written dissents and objections at least 14 times between November 2025 and August 2026 and even written to the cabinet secretary. It also alleged that election officials found their access to the ECI software curtailed by the central IT team. ECI said differing views and observations were a normal part of deliberation and that all its digital platforms operated under strict data security protocols.
