Delhi protest detentions continued on Sunday as police prevented groups of demonstrators from reaching Jantar Mantar, with The Indian Express reporting that more than 30 people were taken into a bus near RK Ashram. The detentions took place hours after the Supreme Court directed the Centre to ensure that protesters were not held illegally and that people retained freedom of movement.
The protest, called by the Cockroach Janata Party and supported by Opposition parties, sought the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The Indian Express reported that protesters appeared in small groups across the capital, chanting slogans and carrying placards before being intercepted by police personnel.
Reporters from the newspaper said they saw security personnel drag several protesters into buses as they attempted to march towards the designated protest site. One man alleged that he had been standing away from the main group when a Delhi Police personnel forced him into a bus and issued a threatening warning. The allegation was reported by The Indian Express and was not independently established in the material supplied.
Another detainee, who identified himself as Bhavesh Joshi, said he was a student travelling to his coaching centre and was placed in a bus against his wishes. Joshi and two women also claimed that they were manhandled during the detentions. These accounts were reported as statements from the detainees.
The Supreme Court’s intervention placed the police action within a broader question of how Delhi manages large public demonstrations while maintaining access to roads and public transport. A bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said the Centre should prevent unlawful detention and permit free movement while maintaining law and order. The bench also said metro and rail facilities should function normally unless restrictions were required to address a disturbance to public order under Article 19(2) of the Constitution.
The latest detentions followed a larger police operation on Saturday, when nearly 7,000 people were detained in the capital, according to the report. Most had been released by late Saturday night. Several Opposition leaders, including former chief ministers Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, Pinarayi Vijayan and Manik Sarkar, were also detained while attempting to join the protest. CJP leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were released on Sunday morning.
More than 30,000 police and paramilitary personnel were deployed in Delhi as part of the security arrangements. The reported detentions around routes leading to Jantar Mantar, together with the Supreme Court’s directions on movement and transport, leave the authorities responsible for balancing protest restrictions with access to public spaces and essential urban mobility. The court’s directions and the continuation of the protest remain the next immediate developments to watch.
