Delhi Police detained approximately 1,000 people on Saturday as they travelled towards the national capital to join the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led demonstration against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
Authorities strengthened security across the National Capital Region, particularly along its borders, to stop protesters from reaching Jantar Mantar.
Indian Railways cancelled or rescheduled multiple services bound for New Delhi, while the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation suspended entry and exit at 45 stations.
On Friday, police rejected the organisers’ request to hold the demonstration, citing their alleged failure to observe legal instructions and commitments made during a previous protest.
Police detained CJP leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka at Indira Gandhi International Airport as they headed to Jantar Mantar.
The demonstrators sought Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Following the aircraft’s arrival, police officers entered the cabin and took the party members into custody.
Dipke shared footage of the incident online, showing officers boarding the aircraft. In the video, he was heard saying, “…I have come here to be arrested; arrest me.”
The party later confirmed the three detentions through a post on its social media account.
Police also took social media influencer Dhruv Rathee into preventive custody at his home in Gurugram.
Opposition leaders, including Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal, party leader Gopal Rai and former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, also joined the demonstrations and challenged the alleged irregularities in the electoral roll revision process before police detained them.
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