Security was tightened across Delhi on Saturday ahead of the Jantar Mantar 2.0 protest, while CJP leaders and lawyers were detained at different locations, including inside an aircraft at Delhi airport, according to a report by The Times of India and information attributed to news agency PTI.
CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke was detained alongside party leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka inside an aircraft at Delhi airport before the planned mobilisation. A video of the incident showed Dipke challenging the police to arrest him, questioning the grounds for his detention and repeatedly asking male officers to come forward as women police personnel stood around him.
“Please send the male officers forward, Male officer,” Dipke was heard saying in the video. Slogans including “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and “Inquilab Zindabad” were also raised inside the aircraft.
The detentions came amid heightened security arrangements in the capital ahead of the protest scheduled for October 10. Police and paramilitary personnel were deployed at key locations, while barricades were erected and checkpoints strengthened, the report said. The measures affected areas associated with the proposed mobilisation, including the vicinity of Jantar Mantar.
The CJP has demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, exercise. The party has also called for the revision process to be scrapped. The report did not provide a response from the Election Commission or the police to the allegations or the detentions.
Security was also stepped up outside Dipke’s residence in Maharashtra before the protest, according to PTI. CJP legal team head Ratna Singh was detained along with three other lawyers. Singh alleged that more than 25 police personnel had surrounded her car without disclosing the grounds for the action. Her allegation was reported by The Times of India, and no police response was included in the supplied report.
YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was also detained at his residence in Gurgaon ahead of the protest, the report said. The separate detentions indicated that security preparations extended beyond the proposed protest venue to the residences and travel routes of people associated with the mobilisation.
The reported actions place Delhi’s handling of political gatherings and preventive policing under scrutiny as authorities prepare for a planned demonstration in a heavily secured central-city zone. The immediate operational focus remains the deployment of personnel, traffic and access controls, and security arrangements around the scheduled Jantar Mantar protest.
