Dhruv Rathee detained as Delhi shuts down ahead of protest; reporters confined to ‘designated’ spots

Prominent YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was detained by Delhi Police at his Gurugram residence on Saturday morning. According to News18, about 50 police personnel gathered outside his home late on Friday night. Delhi Police also detained Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) legal affairs head Ratna Singh at her residence, but according to the latest reports, she is no longer under detention.

The detentions came as the CJP and the All India Students’ Association (AISA) prepared for a protest at Jantar Mantar demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, scheduled for 10 am. Police were also trying to stop people from reaching the capital in the first place.

Independent journalist Raj Shekhar told Newslaundry that bus services into Delhi had been effectively halted. Travelling from Delhi towards Palwal and the KMP highway from 7 am, he counted three buses heading to Delhi between 7:30 and 9:30 am. A Haryana Roadways employee at Ballabhgarh told him buses were being diverted at KMP towards Kundli. Cab drivers said buses were being stopped at barricades beyond Palwal, and bus station staff had been told not to sell Delhi tickets.

Shekhar said buses are being turned away 50 to 80 km outside the city. “People travel to Delhi for more than just the protest,” the roadways employee said. “How can the government just shut down buses like this? How can they stop people from moving around in their own country?”

It is unclear whether the tactic will work. The 26-year-old cab driver who took Shekhar from Ballabhgarh to KMP and back said people would get off at Kundli and elsewhere and make their way in. “If not today, they will come tomorrow,” he said.

Restrictions on media

In Central Delhi, Newslaundry reporter Anmol Pritam was at Connaught Place by 6:42 am, watching Delhi Police detain people walking toward Jantar Mantar. Reporters were not allowed to cross the road to the area where people were being held. Police cited an SOP for media personnel, saying a designated space had been allotted to the press. Pritam said journalists were told that anyone stepping beyond it would be pushed back and threatened with detention. A team from Khabar Lahariya that tried to reach a bus carrying detainees was turned back. He noted that during an earlier protest, reporters could go up to Tolstoy Road or the Janpath Metro station. This time, they could not. 

Newslaundry’s Basant Kumar, reporting from Janpath Road near the Shangri-La Hotel at 8 am, described hundreds of Delhi Police, Rapid Action Force, and other paramilitary personnel on patrol. Barricades had been set up at entry points to the New Delhi district, ID cards were being checked, and vehicles were stopped and their occupants questioned. Announcements were being made, and no one was let through without verification. Police told him in no uncertain terms that YouTubers would not be allowed through.

A city under checkpoints

According to The Indian Express, at least 1,000 people were detained overnight, including 250 from the South East district, particularly areas around Shaheen Bagh, and more than 100 from Shahdara and East Delhi. By 9 am, at least 100 more had been picked up from Connaught Place’s inner circle, many of whom police said had spent the night there in small groups.

The paper reported that over 35,000 Delhi Police and paramilitary personnel were mobilised on directives from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Rapid Action Force teams, body cameras and the all-women “Pink Force” were also deployed, and flag marches were held across the Connaught Place area. Authorities closed 57 Delhi Metro station gates, and prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita remained in force. Around 3,000 personnel were stationed near Parliament Street police station, with about a dozen buses parked to carry away anyone who reached the site.

Peek TV’s Vedanta, reporting at 7:30 am, described checkpoints every five to six kilometres and said even an ambulance was stopped. Commuters were asked where they were headed and why, and were asked for Aadhaar cards. He said detention centres had been set up in every district of Delhi so that people could be held before reaching Jantar Mantar.

A warning to the press

Speaking to PTI, government sources said security personnel would take action against “individuals claiming to be independent journalists” if they provoke police or create a confrontation. Suffice to say, the term is undefined, and it is unclear who decides. PTI also reported that Delhi Police expect around 7,000 protesters, and will move arrivals to designated detention centres. 

CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke, due to land at 10:15 am, said in a social media post that “Modi has accepted defeat even before our protest has begun.” The “mass crackdown” and the shutdown of the capital, he said, were signs of a leader “terrified of his own people.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.