YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, who was detained by Gurugram Police before he was expected to join the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) proposed protest at Jantar Mantar, said in a video statement on Sunday that he was “kidnapped”, hours after he was released late on Saturday.
“I was not arrested or detained, I was KIDNAPPED,” he captioned an Instagram post. Rathee, in a post on X, also refuted reports that he had given an undertaking to Gurugram Police.
According to officials, Rathee was released at 3 am and handed over to his family. He was detained at around 9.30 am on Saturday at his home in Kendriya Vihar Society, Sector 56, Gurugram, ahead of the CJP's planned protest against chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, which authorities later thwarted.
Dhruv Rathee's video statement
Rathee began the video by showing his Indian passport and refuting media reports that he holds a foreign passport. He called the entire episode ‘kidnapping’ rather than detention. He alleged that even after his release, around 15-20 police personnel remained stationed outside his residence and were not allowing him to leave.
Gurugram Police have denied all the allegations made by Rathee. A senior police official told HT, “The entire process was conducted peacefully, and no one was misbehaved with. The police followed all protocols.”
{{/usCountry}}Gurugram Police have denied all the allegations made by Rathee. A senior police official told HT, “The entire process was conducted peacefully, and no one was misbehaved with. The police followed all protocols.”
{{/usCountry}}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.
Further in the video, he claimed that the police misbehaved with his parents and manhandled him.
“And before I could react, these people literally kidnapped me. I am using the word kidnap here because this is not an arrest,” he said.
“They dragged me straight away and took me away. I mean, just imagine how a criminal is taken away. They dragged me from the bedroom. They took me down the stairs. I was badly injured here. There are such wounds all over my body,” he said.
He alleged that he was taken to multiple police stations before being detained at the Crime Branch office in Gurugram. The YouTuber alleged that the police prevented him from contacting his lawyers.
He said, “Have you heard of any democratic country where a common citizen who has not broken any law, who has only raised his voice for the truth, for the benefit of the country, who has demanded a better election commission, is taken from the bedroom of his house, kidnapped, his parents are beaten, and then taken away like this?”
He said the situation was an “unofficial emergency” and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “turning the country into a dictatorship”.
“If this thing can happen to me, then it can happen to you, too. Think about it a little. For now, I am fine.”
Rathee also thanked activist Sonam Wangchuk for threatening a hunger strike if the detained people were not released.
“And I will keep raising my voice for the country in the same way. No matter how much you try to suppress. Jai Hind.”
Dipke, other CJP leaders also released
CJP leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das were released on Sunday after being produced before an executive magistrate. They had been detained at Delhi airport on Saturday ahead of the planned protest at Jantar Mantar.
The three leaders were released on the condition that they would not "breach peace" for a year, CJP legal affairs head Ratna Singh said.
Their detention came amid a major security operation across Delhi on Saturday, during which more than 7,000 protesters were detained at various locations, preventing them from reaching Jantar Mantar.