What is the CJP’s demand? Why Jantar Mantar was the target on October 10
Delhi Police detained hundreds of people, including the Cockroach Janta Party's founder at the airport and a group of lawyers marching from the Supreme Court, as the party's October 10 protest against the Chief Election Commissioner was blocked, according to ThePrint's live reporting.
The Cockroach Janta Party demands the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
It also demands a rollback of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
Delhi Police denied permission, saying the intimation came too late.
Police began detaining people near Jantar Mantar at about 8:30 am.
The reports did not carry a response from the Election Commission.
At about 9:45 am, police said that about 150 protesters had been detained that morning and that about 500 people arriving in groups had also been detained.
Police said Delhi had been divided into 20 zones, each with a detention centre, and that three stadiums were designated as detention centres.
The CJP said its founder, Abhijeet Dipke, and two co-conveners were detained by police who boarded their plane after it landed at Delhi’s IGI airport at about 10:30 am.
The CJP said the three were taken to an unknown location.
The party also said that its legal spokesperson and its policy head were detained, and that a YouTuber was detained from a home in Gurugram.
At about 11 am, police detained a group of lawyers who were marching from the Supreme Court to Jantar Mantar.
At about noon, the Supreme Court Bar Association asked the Chief Justice of India for urgent intervention and for an examination of the detentions and the reported use of force.
The CPI(M) said that former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other party leaders were detained, and Tushar Gandhi was reported detained in Mumbai while heading to a planned protest.
Newslaundry said that three of its journalists were detained and their official phones seized, and Scroll said its reporter was detained.
Police used buses, including prison vehicles, to take detainees away, according to ThePrint.
Al Jazeera reported that the party says thousands of its members were detained ahead of the protest, which is the party’s own claim and not an independent count.
Delhi Police barricade (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Reporting for Hindustan Hunt on news and stories from across India.
