New Delhi: The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Saturday announced a fresh march to Jantar Mantar on Sunday, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged electoral roll manipulation and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
CJP leader Ajinkya Shinde said the party would continue protesting until its demands were met. Delhi Police detained more than 7,000 protesters across the capital, with six personnel injured during the demonstrations, according to police. Authorities maintained that permission had not been granted for the planned protest.
Detained leaders: Whereabouts remain unknown
The CJP said it had no information about the whereabouts of its leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, who were detained by Delhi Police after arriving in the capital. The whereabouts of YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, who was reportedly detained from his residence in Gurugram’s Sector 56, also remained unknown. CJP legal affairs head Ratna Singh said she had been in detention since 9 am. The party alleged that its Mumbai lead, Pranay Ahire, was assaulted by Delhi Police and was receiving treatment in hospital.
Who has been released?
AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal was released from detention at Jaffarpur Kalan police station late Saturday. Former Keralam chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan was also reported to have been released. Neha Bora said her phone had been returned and women protesters held at Maidan Garhi police station had been released. However, the status of several other detained protesters and leaders was not immediately clear.
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Other detentions and reactions
The crackdown extended to Mumbai, where police detained around 400 people protesting in solidarity with the CJP agitation. Actor Imran Khan was among those detained at August Kranti Maidan. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and other Trinamool Congress MPs were also detained and began a sit-in at a police station. The UN Human Rights office expressed concern over reports of mass detentions of protesters, lawyers, journalists and civil society members, urging authorities to respect the right to peaceful assembly.
What to watch for on Sunday
The CJP has vowed to march to Jantar Mantar again, while the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) has also said demonstrations will continue. Delhi Traffic Police announced restrictions and possible diversions at 30 key points from 6 am on Sunday. The INDIA bloc has separately announced a protest in Delhi on October 12 over voting rights.
