YouTuber Dhruv Rathee got detained at his Gurugram home on Saturday morning. Police said they took this step because he refused requests to skip the CJP protest at Jantar Mantar. Authorities deployed 40,000 personnel across Delhi to maintain peace. The CJP strongly condemned the detention and demanded his immediate release.
Germany-based YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, who recently travelled to India, has been detained at his residence in Kendriya Vihar society in Gurugram's Sector-56 on Saturday morning after he didn’t listen to the requests of Gurugram and Delhi police teams to not travel to the national capital to take part in the CJP protest for which permission has not been granted, police said.
Delhi has been turned into a fortress, with more than 40,000 Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) personnel deployed, and barricades and spike strips installed ahead of the Abhijeet Dipke-led CJP protest at Jantar Mantar. The protesters are seeking the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
A senior official of Gurugram police said a Delhi police team had reached his residence, urging him not to travel to Delhi for the protest.
“Delhi police also communicated the scenario with us after which our teams also reached his home and urged him to comply with the law and help in maintaining peace,” he said.
“However, we were forced to detain him after he turned down all the requests not to travel to Delhi. We would have preferred not to detain him in case Rathee had listened to the law enforcement agencies,” the official said.
Gurugram police officials said that cops have been deployed at his home, who will remain stationed there till further orders.
CJP reacts
The CJP also confirmed through a social media post that Dhruv Rathee has been detained.
The outfit wrote on X: "The Dictator is TERRIFIED of young people who question its wrongdoings and refuse to stay silent!
In a separate statement issued on social media, the CJP said that it strongly condemns the Delhi Police's “high-handed detention of Social Activist and Influencer Dhruv Rathee”.
“The arrest is part of an aggressive, citywide government crackdown designed to silence democratic dissent regarding electoral roll irregularities. The CJP demands the immediate and unconditional release of Rathee and the hundreds of other citizens and student activists currently held in custody,” the outfit said through its WhatsApp channel.
Rathee, in his recent video posted on social media platforms including X, had asked everyone to gather for the CJP protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Saturday.