Several leaders from the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and the Opposition were detained by the Delhi Police ahead of their arrival at Jantar Mantar on Saturday to participate in the protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
CJP's key faces including founder and convener Abhijeet Dipke, co-conveners Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained from inside the plane upon landing at the Delhi airport. Track CJP protest LIVE
Meanwhile, CPI(M) Keralam said on X that party leaders including MA Baby, Pinarayi Vijayan, MV Govindan Master, A Vijayaraghavan KK Shailaja, John Brittas MP, KN Balagopal, Brinda Karat and PK Sreemathi were detained upon arriving at Jantar Mantar.
Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee was also detained on Saturday afternoon. Earlier, Banerjee sat on dharna on the road near South Avenue bus stand.
Deep Dive
Who was detained ahead of the CJP’s Jantar Mantar protest?
Why were people detained ahead of the Jantar Mantar protest?
How were Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka detained?
ALSO READ: YouTuber Dhruv Rathee detained in Gurugram ahead of CJP's Jantar Mantar protest
{{/usCountry}}ALSO READ: YouTuber Dhruv Rathee detained in Gurugram ahead of CJP's Jantar Mantar protest
{{/usCountry}}List of CJP faces, political leaders detained so far -
- Abhijeet Dipke
- Saurav Das
- Ashutosh Ranka
- Ratna Singh
- MA Baby
- Pinarayi Vijayan
- MV Govindan Master
- A Vijayaraghavan
- KK Shailaja
- John Brittas
- KN Balagopal
- Brinda Karat
- PK Sreemathi
- Tushar Gandhi (great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi) detained in Mumbai
- Manish Sisodia detained in Chandigarh
- Mamata Banerjee
- Arvind Kejriwal
- Gopal Rai
Journalists claimed to have been detained -
- Ayush Tiwari from Scroll
- Ashwine Kumar Singh from Newslaundry
- Astha Savyasachi from Newslaundry
- Rahul Charas and Hritik Joshi from Navbharat Times were briefly detained.
In self-made video posted on X, political activist Yogendra Yadav said that a car, with no police markings, was following them on their way to the protest site.
“We fear that at any moment we too could be detained or abducted, so I'm making this video so that you can know what's happening with us. One thing is clear—we may be detained, arrested, or whatever they wish, but this struggle will not stop,” he said.
Apart from this, All India Students’ Association (AISA) national president Neha Bora was also detained near Safdarjung airport as police stepped up crackdown on protesters on Saturday.
40,000 cops deployed in Delhi
With a massive gathering expected on Saturday, the Capital has been turned into a fortress, with more than 40,000 Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) personnel deployed to prevent protesters from converging on Jantar Mantar for a demonstration called by the CJP against CEC over alleged electoral roll irregularities.
Jantar Mantar, the intended focal point of the protest, has been sealed off even to media personnel. The connecting roads were also barricaded and manned by security forces, with loudspeakers at three key entry-exit points broadcasting warnings in Hindi and English against gatherings, processions, road blockades and other prohibited activities under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).