Indian authorities released nearly all 3,000 people detained during a massive security crackdown in the capital, while Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, and two other party leaders remained in police custody.
The widespread detentions occurred on Saturday when police thwarted a planned demonstration at Jantar Mantar calling for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged electoral irregularities, reports NDTV.
Although women, senior citizens, and hundreds of demonstrators – including four former chief ministers – were set free by Saturday night, key opposition figures remain held as political tensions escalate.
Top CJP leadership and YouTuber in custody
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, along with party leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, was taken into custody directly from an aircraft upon landing at Delhi airport.
Till the filing of this report, authorities kept Dipke detained despite the death of his paternal grandmother in Maharashtra; although police indicated he could leave for her funeral, his release was still unconfirmed.
Meanwhile, popular YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was detained from neighbouring Gurugram as part of police efforts to prevent movement towards the protest site.
While most of the 3,000 demonstrators held in various locations and stadiums across the capital were released, CJP leaders pledged to continue attempting daily marches to Jantar Mantar until their demands are met.
High-profile opposition figures released after mass crackdown
Among those temporarily detained and later released were former Chief Ministers Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), and Left leaders Pinarayi Vijayan and Manik Sarkar.
Prior to his detention outside his Lodhi Estate residence – where police officers lifted him by his legs and chest into a bus – Kejriwal urged youth across India to transform every stoppage location into a protest site.
Upon his release later on Saturday evening, Kejriwal declared that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would run out of space in jails.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee was detained at South Avenue while staging a sit-in with a band-aid taped over her mouth, while student activists from AISA, led by Neha Bora, were pushed into police vans near Dilli Haat.
Other prominent opposition leaders taken into custody included Communist figures MA Baby, Brinda Karat, and Dipankar Bhattacharya; activists Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan; AAP leaders Sanjay Singh, Saurabh Bharadwaj, and Gopal Rai; as well as TMC figures Derek O’Brien, Dola Sen, and Saket Gokhale.
Solidarity demonstrations also spread beyond Delhi, with Mumbai police detaining approximately 200 people at August Kranti Maidan, including Mahatma Gandhi’s great-grandson Tushar Gandhi and actor Imran Khan.
Indian capital locked down
To prevent the demonstration at Jantar Mantar, authorities deployed over 25,000 personnel from the Delhi Police and central paramilitary forces, enforcing severe movement restrictions across the city.
Security measures included shutting the gates of 45 Delhi Metro stations for 24 hours until 10pm on Saturday, cancelling more than 250 trains, and cutting mobile internet access within a four-kilometre radius of the protest site.
Speaking from a police vehicle, Banerjee condemned the state action as a “Super Emergency” exceeding the 1975–77 Emergency.
Former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan remarked that police driving elected representatives in circles for hours demonstrated government panic, while activist Sonam Wangchuk warned he would begin a hunger strike or foot march if all detainees were not freed.
From Chennai, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi urged young people to maintain protests, stating that opposition leaders would not back down.
Charter of demands submitted as protests set to continue
The Congress-led INDIA bloc presented a four-point charter of demands to Indian President Droupadi Murmu, calling for the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the repeal of a 2023 law granting election commissioners lifelong immunity.
The opposition charter further demanded the immediate suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls, the restoration of 13.3 crore deleted voters, a return to paper ballots, and the annulment of recent assembly elections where vote manipulation was alleged.
Rejecting the opposition claims, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad defended the Election Commission and voter roll revision, asserting that Indian democracy had defeated attempts to incite anarchy and that the country would be governed by Parliament rather than street actions.
Opposition INDIA bloc leaders announced plans to meet Chief Justice Surya Kant on Monday to present a memorandum, as heavy police deployment in Delhi remains in place.
India slams UN remarks
Meanwhile, India strongly rejected concerns raised by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) regarding the detentions of CJP supporters, describing the UN body’s comments as “unwarranted interference in internal affairs.”
In an official statement posted via its UN mission account, New Delhi stated that OHCHR’s concerns were misplaced and suggested the UN body direct its attention to large-scale protests occurring elsewhere.
Defending its legal framework, the Indian government asserted that the right to peaceful assembly is constitutionally guaranteed and protected by robust democratic institutions, an independent judiciary, and a free media, adding that authorities acted strictly in accordance with the law to maintain public order.
