Gurugram: Gurugram Police on Sunday released Germany-based YouTuber Dhruv Rathee nearly 18 hours after detaining him from his Sector 56 residence for allegedly planning to protest irregularities in electoral rolls at Jantar Mantar, where prohibitory orders were enforced, an officer said.
Police said the 32-year-old social media activist was kept under watch at one of the offices of the crime branch in Gurugram, from where he was handed over to his family members around 3 am on Sunday.
“Yes, he has been set free. His family members arrived to receive him at a crime branch office where he was kept detained, ” said a senior officer.
“He was released after discussion with Delhi police, and it was ensured that he won’t be a part of a group or mob trying to create law and order problems where prohibitory orders were already in force,” the officer said.
Police said that he was detained under Section 172(2) (detain or remove any person who resists, refuses, ignores, or disregards a lawful direction) of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.
They said that since Rathee was released within 24 hours, he did not need to be produced before an executive magistrate.
{{/usCountry}}They said that since Rathee was released within 24 hours, he did not need to be produced before an executive magistrate.
{{/usCountry}}The officer said that around 7 am on Saturday, a Delhi police team reached his residence at Kendriya Vihar in Sector 56 and urged him not to travel to Delhi to take part in the protest.
The Delhi police also alerted Gurugram counterparts, who too reached his residence to persuade him to avoid travelling to Jantar Mantar, the officer said.
The officer said that, as he allegedly refused to abide, Gurugram police detained him around 9.30 am.
‘Kidnapped’ not detained
In a video statement after his release, Rathee said he was “kidnapped, not detained”, as Gurugram police stated.
“I was not arrested or detained; I was kidnapped,” he said in an Instagram post. Rathee also refuted reports on X that he had given an undertaking to Gurugram Police.
He alleged that even after his release, around 15-20 police personnel remained stationed outside his residence and were not allowing him to leave.
In a 5.42-minute-long video released on his social media handles, Rathee alleged that around 50 men gathered outside his house on Saturday and misbehaved with his parents and manhandled him.
“And before I could respond, these people kidnapped me... they dragged me straight and took me away just as a criminal is taken away. They took me down the stairs. I was injured. There are injury marks on my body,” he alleged.
He alleged that the police prevented him from contacting his lawyers. “Have you heard of any democratic country where a citizen who has not broken any law, who has only raised his voice for the truth, for the benefit of the country, who is demanding a fair election commission, is taken from the bedroom of his house and kidnapped and his parents beaten?”
He said the situation was an “unofficial emergency”. He thanked climate activist Sonam Wangchuk for warning of a hunger strike if the authorities do not release all the detained people.
In the video, Rathee also showed his Indian passport, refuting reports that he holds a foreign passport. Denying the allegations, a senior Gurugram police officer told HT, “The entire process was conducted peacefully, and no one was misbehaved with. The police followed all protocols.”