New Delhi witnessed heavy security on Saturday as police moved to prevent a planned protest at Jantar Mantar demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The demonstration was called by the “Cockroach Party” and its allies, amid opposition allegations of irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Delhi Police said the organisers had not obtained formal permission and had only shared information about the proposed gathering. Citing law-and-order concerns, authorities deployed around 25,000 personnel across the capital and warned the public against joining the protest.
As part of preventive measures, police detained more than 5,000 people attempting to move towards Jantar Mantar, leading to the protest losing momentum. Officials also shut 45 Metro stations and cancelled more than 12 trains arriving in Delhi, according to the report.
In a separate action, Cockroach Party leader Abhijit Deepke, who flew in from Mumbai along with associates Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranga, was taken into preventive custody on the aircraft upon arrival in Delhi. Earlier in the day, YouTuber Dhruv Rathi and the party’s legal wing head Ratna Singh were also detained from their homes.
The report also said police stopped a group of 60 lawyers who attempted to protest near the Supreme Court complex in support of the party’s agitation.
