The officers had denied the CJP protest permit hours before the demonstration, citing the danger of a repeat of the July‑20 riot that saw hundreds of trains cancelled and traffic snarled across the capital.
The deployment swelled to 20,000 personnel, 300 CCTV cameras were set up around Jantar Mantar, and 250 trains scheduled at Hazrat Nizamuddin and New Delhi stations were called off. The city’s internet was shut down within a 4‑km radius of the site for 24 hours, a measure that caught commuters and social media users alike.
In the early morning, Delhi Police seized key CJP figures—Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka, and Saurav Das—after their flight landed. The ex‑Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, was also briefly holding at Chhatrasal Stadium, flanked by CPI(M) MP John Brittas and former finance minister KN Balagopal.
Brittas told reporters in a video: "We are being taken in a police jeep round and round in the city. We were taken to Chhatrasal Stadium and we are in a police jeep after 30‑40 minutes. We don’t know where we are going." He added that the police had driven them around the city for about an hour before dropping them at the stadium.
The arrests come as Delhi Police prepare to file charges of unlawful assembly against the detained leaders tomorrow. The city’s civic authorities will review the protest orders next Monday, while the Election Commission waits for the CJP’s resignation demand to be addressed.