YouTuber Dhruv Rathee Detained Ahead of Protest

German-based YouTuber and social media influencer Dhruv Rathee was detained by Gurugram Police on Saturday morning, October 10, ahead of a planned protest by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. The demonstration is demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, according to Indian newspaper The Hindustan Times.

Rathee was detained at his residence in the Kendriya Vihar housing society in Sector 56, Gurugram, after he declined requests from Gurugram and Delhi Police not to travel to the capital for the protest, police said.

A senior Gurugram Police officer said a Delhi Police team had visited Rathee’s residence and asked him not to attend the demonstration. Delhi Police also informed Gurugram Police about the situation. Gurugram police teams subsequently visited his home and urged him to comply with the law and help maintain public order.

The officer said Rathee’s refusal to heed the requests left the police with no option but to detain him. He added that the police would have preferred not to detain Rathee had he followed their instructions.

Police officials said personnel had been deployed at Rathee’s residence and would remain there until further instructions.

The supplied reports did not clearly specify the formal legal grounds for his detention.

Heavy security ahead of CJP rally

Authorities have stepped up security across Delhi ahead of the CJP demonstration at Jantar Mantar. The party is demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the revision of electoral rolls.

According to The Hindustan Times, plans called for deploying more than 15,000 police personnel and around 26,000 members of the Central Armed Police Forces in Delhi. Another section of the supplied report referred to a deployment of more than 40,000 police and central security personnel. Police had not granted permission for the protest.

Authorities have also imposed restrictions on public movement. Entry and exit gates at 45 Delhi Metro stations were reportedly scheduled to be closed as part of the security arrangements.

More than 250 trains scheduled to arrive at New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin railway stations between 4am and 2pm on Saturday were also cancelled, The Hindustan Times reported.

The report further said mobile internet services had been suspended for 24 hours from 10pm on Friday within a four-kilometre radius of the Janpath–Kartavya Path intersection. Several hundred protesters were also reportedly detained from different parts of the capital.

CJP condemns Rathee’s detention

The CJP confirmed Rathee’s detention in a social media post. In a post on X, the party said authoritarian forces feared young people who questioned wrongdoing and refused to remain silent.

In a separate statement, the party condemned what it described as the coercive detention of Rathee, a social activist and influencer.

In a message on its WhatsApp channel, the CJP alleged that the detention was part of an aggressive, citywide government operation intended to suppress democratic dissent over voter-list irregularities.

The party demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Rathee and hundreds of citizens and student activists it said were in custody.

In a recent video shared on social media, including X, Rathee had urged people to gather at Jantar Mantar on Saturday for the CJP protest.

CJP founder Abhijit Dipak said the party’s volunteers and supporters would not abandon their plan to demonstrate at Jantar Mantar despite the restrictions. He questioned the authorities’ justification for restricting the protest to prevent public inconvenience, asking whether the restrictions on metro services, trains and roads were themselves increasing hardship for ordinary people.

//DBTech/INM/SMP/DPO//