Over 5,000 Protesters Detained In Delhi Amid Anti-CEC Demonstration

Delhi Police detained over 5,000 protesters across the national capital on Saturday during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke, along with Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, were detained at Delhi airport after their flight from Mumbai landed. Co-passengers on Air India flight AI 2428 booed and hurled caustic remarks at the CJP members as police entered the aircraft to take them into custody. Shashank Tyagi, a passenger, reported that over 90% of flyers were frustrated due to the delay and disagreement with CJP's views.

Dipke's grandmother died in Maharashtra while he was being held at Delhi airport, prompting his father to question the legal basis of his detention. The Delhi Police had denied permission for the CJP's planned demonstration at Jantar Mantar on October 10. Prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) were imposed across the New Delhi district, banning unauthorized public assemblies.

Around 14,000 police personnel, including 4,000 women officers, were deployed in the city. Youtuber Dhruv Rathee was detained at his Gurugram residence, and All India Students’ Association (AISA) national president Neha Bora was also detained. Former chief ministers Pinarayi Vijayan, Arvind Kejriwal, and Mamata Banerjee were among those detained, with Vijayan, 82, reportedly driven around Delhi for hours without access to medicines.

Protesters used public washrooms and gurdwara premises to evade detention, leading to Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Harmeet Singh Kalka accusing the Aam Aadmi Party of dirty politics. The CJP accuses Kumar of favoring Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in updating electoral rolls, allegations denied by the Election Commission and BJP.