Delhi Police detained hundreds of people across the capital ahead of the Cockroach Janta Party’s October 10 protest at Jantar Mantar, transporting them to makeshift detention centres in stadiums, schools and other facilities, according to an on-ground report by The Indian Express.
Those detained included former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, actor Raj Zutshi, 15 journalists, social media content creators and people who said they had no connection with the protest. Police set up detention centres across all 13 districts, with detainees taken to locations including Chhatrasal Stadium in north Delhi and Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Bawana.
Chhatrasal Stadium, about 13 kilometres from Jantar Mantar, continued to function as a sports complex while police buses and vans brought detainees into the premises. Police officers collected detainee details inside the complex, while a large pavilion was being prepared to provide meals, drinking water and refreshments for police and Central Armed Police Forces personnel deployed at the site.
Sources cited by The Indian Express said Vijayan was detained near Kerala House on Jantar Mantar Road and taken to the stadium. CPI(M) worker AR Sindhu, speaking from inside a police vehicle, alleged that women protesters’ clothes had been torn and said detainees were being moved repeatedly between locations. These allegations were reported from the vehicle and were not independently confirmed in the report.
The detention operation also affected journalists covering the protest. Newslaundry journalist Anmol Pritam said that journalists reporting from New Delhi Railway Station had been detained and transported to the stadium. Fifteen journalists were subsequently brought to the facility. Sources in the Delhi Police told The Indian Express that journalists from Newslaundry and Scroll were released in the afternoon.
Detainees said their phones had been taken away, while several buses arrived and departed from the stadium during the morning. One bus carried protesters who chanted slogans before being moved to a government school in Shalimar Bagh that was also being used as a detention centre. The report said at least seven major vehicles carrying detainees entered the Chhatrasal Stadium complex during the police action.
At Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Bawana, the athletic area had been cordoned off to accommodate detainees. Police personnel at the site said 17 men had been brought there by 11 a.m. One middle-aged man told The Indian Express that he had been picked up on Mahadev Road while taking a relative to hospital and had no connection with the protest. Two social media content creators said they had been detained while making reels near Jantar Mantar.
The reported use of sports complexes and government schools as temporary detention sites highlights the scale and logistical reach of the police operation across Delhi. The report did not provide details of the legal grounds for each detention or specify when all detainees would be released.
