New Delhi: Delhi Police detained Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday as a massive security crackdown engulfed the Cockroach Janata Party's planned protest at Jantar Mantar demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Kejriwal shared a video saying he had been detained, while AAP alleged that he was manhandled and that senior party leaders including Manish Sisodia were also taken into custody. Banerjee was detained in Delhi after sitting on a dharna, and five Trinamool Congress MPs were detained along with her, according to live updates from the Hindustan Times.
Leaders picked up across the country
The detentions began early in the day. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, along with Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, was detained upon landing at Delhi airport, with police confirming the detentions around 11:09 AM. YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was detained from his Gurugram residence in the morning. In Mumbai, Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson Tushar Gandhi was detained from his Khar residence, NDTV reported, while former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and CPM MP John Brittas were detained en route to the protest and taken to Chhatrasal Stadium.
More than 60 people were detained from the Bangla Sahib Gurdwara area, and officials said over 1,000 people had been detained overnight. Three stadiums in Delhi were being readied as detention centres.
Fortress Delhi
More than 40,000 Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Forces personnel were deployed across the capital, with yellow barricades, spike strips and body-worn cameras in use. Entry and exit gates at 45 metro stations were closed, mail and express trains scheduled to arrive at New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin between 4 AM and 2 PM were cancelled, and retail liquor shops remained shut. Internet services were down in parts of the capital, including Lodhi Colony, amid a reported 24-hour shutdown around the protest.
Trouble flared near Safdarjung flyover, where police said two officers were injured in stone pelting and two protesters were detained.
What the protest is about
The CJP has been demanding that CEC Gyanesh Kumar resign over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Dipke has alleged that around 13 crore voters were removed from the rolls since 2024 — a claim the Election Commission has rejected, maintaining that major decisions, including the SIR, were taken unanimously by the full commission. The Hindustan Times noted that an Indian Express investigation had reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions linked to the SIR exercise.
With Dipke detained, CJP's Ajinkya Shinde took over the stir, telling supporters in a video: "If Delhi Police tries to stop you, wherever they stop you will become your Jantar Mantar." The BJP dismissed the protest as an "anarchists' flop show", while the Union Home Ministry asked all states to take preventive steps against mobilisation towards Delhi.
Sources:
Delhi protest LIVE: CJP dares Delhi Police, asks protesters to march towards Jantar Mantar; Kejriwal, Mamata detained — Hindustan Times
Delhi CJP Protest News LIVE: CJP's Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka Taken To 3 Different Locations — NDTV
The Hindu Morning Digest: October 10, 2026
Kejriwal shared a video saying he had been detained, while AAP alleged that he was manhandled and that senior party leaders including Manish Sisodia were also taken into custody. Banerjee was detained in Delhi after sitting on a dharna, and five Trinamool Congress MPs were detained along with her, according to live updates from the Hindustan Times.
Leaders picked up across the country
The detentions began early in the day. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, along with Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, was detained upon landing at Delhi airport, with police confirming the detentions around 11:09 AM. YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was detained from his Gurugram residence in the morning. In Mumbai, Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson Tushar Gandhi was detained from his Khar residence, NDTV reported, while former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and CPM MP John Brittas were detained en route to the protest and taken to Chhatrasal Stadium.
More than 60 people were detained from the Bangla Sahib Gurdwara area, and officials said over 1,000 people had been detained overnight. Three stadiums in Delhi were being readied as detention centres.
Fortress Delhi
More than 40,000 Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Forces personnel were deployed across the capital, with yellow barricades, spike strips and body-worn cameras in use. Entry and exit gates at 45 metro stations were closed, mail and express trains scheduled to arrive at New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin between 4 AM and 2 PM were cancelled, and retail liquor shops remained shut. Internet services were down in parts of the capital, including Lodhi Colony, amid a reported 24-hour shutdown around the protest.
Trouble flared near Safdarjung flyover, where police said two officers were injured in stone pelting and two protesters were detained.
What the protest is about
The CJP has been demanding that CEC Gyanesh Kumar resign over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Dipke has alleged that around 13 crore voters were removed from the rolls since 2024 — a claim the Election Commission has rejected, maintaining that major decisions, including the SIR, were taken unanimously by the full commission. The Hindustan Times noted that an Indian Express investigation had reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions linked to the SIR exercise.
With Dipke detained, CJP's Ajinkya Shinde took over the stir, telling supporters in a video: "If Delhi Police tries to stop you, wherever they stop you will become your Jantar Mantar." The BJP dismissed the protest as an "anarchists' flop show", while the Union Home Ministry asked all states to take preventive steps against mobilisation towards Delhi.
Sources:
Delhi protest LIVE: CJP dares Delhi Police, asks protesters to march towards Jantar Mantar; Kejriwal, Mamata detained — Hindustan Times
Delhi CJP Protest News LIVE: CJP's Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka Taken To 3 Different Locations — NDTV
The Hindu Morning Digest: October 10, 2026
