YouTuber Dhruv Rathee has reportedly been detained by Delhi Police from his residence in Gurugram ahead of a planned protest called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) at Jantar Mantar on Saturday.
According to reports, around 50 police personnel arrived at Rathee’s residence in Sector 56 and detained him at around 7.48 am. He was scheduled to participate in the protest in Delhi later in the day.
Reacting to the reported detention, the CJP said in a post on X, “The Dictator is TERRIFIED of young people who question its wrongdoings and refuse to stay silent!”
Rathee had participated in an anti-SIR protest in Bengaluru on Thursday, where he raised concerns over the "lack of transparency and accountability" in the Election Commission’s electoral roll revision exercise.
He alleged that “Vote Chori” (vote theft) was an issue affecting every citizen, irrespective of political affiliation. Emphasising that his participation was not on behalf of any political party, Rathee said the issue should concern supporters of the BJP as well.
Rathee also claimed that around 70,000 voters had been removed from electoral rolls in West Bengal ahead of the Assembly elections, while approximately 65 lakh names had been deleted from the electoral rolls in Bihar.
Meanwhile, the CJP has called for a large mobilisation at Jantar Mantar despite the police denying permission for the demonstration. Security has been tightened across the national capital, with police and paramilitary personnel deployed at key locations ahead of the protest.
Delhi Police have directed their teams to detain anyone attempting to stage a protest, regardless of their location. Multiple facial recognition systems (FRS), additional CCTV cameras, rooftop spotters and drones have been deployed across Central Delhi as part of the security arrangements.
