Delhi Police detained more than 1,100 people and closed 46 Metro stations as security was intensified ahead of the Cockroach Janta Party’s proposed protest at Jantar Mantar against the Election Commission and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The measures affected movement across the capital and included the detention of party leaders at Indira Gandhi International Airport.
CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke, along with fellow leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, was detained at the airport on Saturday after arriving in Delhi. In videos shared by the party on X, Dipke alleged that police personnel entered the aircraft and attempted to take him into custody. He compared the action with the Emergency imposed during former prime minister Indira Gandhi’s tenure.
A police personnel heard in one of the videos told Dipke that the action was not an arrest and asked him to cooperate. The report did not include a detailed Delhi Police statement responding to the allegations made in the videos.
The CJP had called the protest to demand Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls and the Special Intensive Revision of voter lists. The party’s legal head, Ratna Singh, also claimed that police personnel arrived at her residence and told her that they had orders to detain her. Singh said the personnel asked her to leave her car and remain at home, which she described as illegal detention.
Youtuber Dhruv Rathee was also detained from his residence in Sector 56, Gurgaon, according to the report. Delhi Police said more than 1,100 people had been detained so far, including around 600 placed in preventive detention and more than 500 detained from different parts of the city.
The security plan divided New Delhi district into 20 operational zones, each with designated detention centres. Police personnel were deployed at multiple locations, while entry points into the capital were placed under heightened surveillance. The closure of 46 Metro stations added a significant public-transport restriction to the wider security arrangement.
The measures were introduced after the CJP’s proposed demonstration and followed protests witnessed on July 20, according to the report. The source did not specify how long the Metro station closures would continue or when the detained individuals would be released.
