Mumbai Police detained activist Tushar Gandhi and another organiser on Saturday ahead of a proposed demonstration at August Kranti Maidan in solidarity with a protest planned by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. Police said the Mumbai gathering did not have the required permission and that August Kranti Maidan was not a designated protest site under a Bombay High Court order.
Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and head of the organisation Hum Bharat Ke Log, was picked up from Bandra and taken to DN Nagar police station, a police official said. Activist Feeroz Mithiborwala was also taken into custody from his residence and shifted to MIDC police station, officials said.
The proposed gathering at August Kranti Maidan was scheduled for 3.30pm. Gandhi had shared a poster on X urging citizens to join the event, which was planned as a show of solidarity with the CJP’s mobilisation in Delhi.
Zonal Deputy Commissioner of Police Ragasudha R said no application seeking permission for the Mumbai event had been submitted to Gamdevi police station and that no official approval had been granted. Police said the preventive action was taken to maintain law and order ahead of the proposed demonstration.
The episode highlights the administrative restrictions governing public demonstrations in Mumbai, where organisers must obtain permission for gatherings and comply with restrictions on the use of designated public spaces. The police account places the detentions within that permission process, while the proposed event was linked to a wider political mobilisation concerning electoral administration.
The CJP’s planned protest at Jantar Mantar is directed at Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of irregularities in the electoral process, including claims concerning voter-list manipulation during the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and changes related to Form 6, the document used for voter registration. The supplied report does not establish the validity of those allegations.
More than 1,500 people were detained in several parts of Delhi ahead of the CJP’s proposed protest, according to the report, as police intensified preventive measures in the national capital. The Mumbai detentions occurred separately, ahead of the planned solidarity gathering at August Kranti Maidan.
The police statement cited the absence of an application and the venue’s status under a Bombay High Court order as the basis for action. The next steps concerning the detained organisers and any further decision on the proposed Mumbai gathering were not specified in the report.
