New Delhi: YouTuber activist Dhruv Rathee walked free early on Sunday after nearly a day in police custody, but rejected the authorities’ account of what had happened to him. He said he had not been formally arrested or detained, but forcibly taken from his Gurugram home before a planned protest in Delhi.
Rathee was picked up from his residence in Sector 56, Gurugram, on Saturday morning as Delhi Police mounted a sweeping security operation to stop demonstrators from reaching Jantar Mantar.
The protest had been called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which is demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
A police official said Rathee could face renewed detention or legal proceedings if he attempted to enter Jantar Mantar despite prohibitory orders.
“He can be detained again, or further legal action might be taken if he tries to go to Jantar Mantar despite prohibitory orders,” the officer told PTI.
‘Kidnapped’, Says Rathee
Soon after returning home, Rathee posted a video on X and gave his version of the incident. “I was not arrested or detained, I was KIDNAPPED. Thank you for your support, here’s the full story,” he wrote.
He alleged that about 20 people in civilian clothes entered his house while he was asleep, pushed past his mother and took him away without showing a warrant or allowing him to contact a lawyer. He further claimed that he was dragged downstairs, injured and shifted between police stations, with his phone withheld for roughly 22 to 23 hours, as reported by bdnews24.com.
The CJP, meanwhile, alleged that around 50 plainclothes personnel reached Rathee’s home at about 8 am and detained him.
Rathee, known for his support of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and criticism of the NDA government, had returned to India shortly before the protest and attended a CJP event in Bengaluru on October 8.
Crackdown In Capital
CJP leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were placed under preventive arrest on Sunday and subsequently released by an executive magistrate.
More than 3,000 people, including politicians and CJP workers, were detained across Delhi on Saturday as police sealed major routes and shut entry and exit gates at 45 Metro stations, including Rajiv Chowk, New Delhi, Central Secretariat, Patel Chowk and Kashmere Gate. Most detainees were freed later that night, though Rathee and senior CJP figures remained in custody longer, as reported by NDTV.
The Supreme Court was scheduled to hold a special sitting on Sunday to examine a contempt plea against the blanket closure of Metro stations and train services. A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, with Justices Joymalya Baghi and V Mohana, had on Friday ordered that Metro services must not be completely halted before the protest.
Meanwhile, Metro operations resumed on Sunday morning, although security personnel remained deployed in large numbers at station gates, with buses stationed nearby to transport any further detainees.
