Delhi Police seized YouTuber Dhruv Rathee from his Gurugram home on Saturday, deploying roughly 50 officers as part of a sweep ahead of the Cockroach Janta Party protest at Jantar Mantar.
The protest, aimed at challenging the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, drew a crowd of 400‑plus detainees, hundreds of trains canceled and dozens of metro stations shut.
Rathee, who earlier this week returned from Germany and had joined a CJP rally in Bengaluru on Oct. 8, posted on X that he would attend the Delhi demonstration.
CJP’s legal cell head Ratna Singh said she was also detained, with officers surrounding her car and denying her exit. The party has demanded Rathee’s immediate release.
Delhi Police denied the protest’s request for permission, citing security and procedural concerns, and has deployed over 20,000 personnel from the police and Central Armed Police Forces to maintain order.
Police officials will meet with CJP’s representative Abhijeet Dipke on Monday to discuss the detentions, while the protest at Jantar Mantar is slated to commence at 10 a.m.