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YouTuber Dhruv Rathee held ahead of CJP protest in Delhi
YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was detained by Delhi Police from his residence in Sector 56 of Gurugram on Saturday ahead of the Cockroach Janata Party’s (CJP) planned protest at Jantar Mantar, police sources said.
Around 50 Delhi Police personnel arrived at Rathee’s residence on Saturday morning and detained him, according to the sources.
The move drew a strong reaction from the CJP, which demanded his “immediate release”.
Rathee announced his plan to join the protest in a video posted on his X account on Friday evening.
A vocal critic of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, Rathee returned to India from Germany earlier this week. He also joined the CJP’s protest in Bengaluru on October 8.
Rathee has a large online following, with 19.2 million followers on Instagram, 3.3 million on X and 33 million subscribers on YouTube.
Delhi Police earlier denied permission for the proposed demonstration, citing security concerns and procedural requirements.
Police have intensified preventive detentions and deployed personnel at key locations to stop protesters from reaching the demonstration site.
More than 400 people were detained overnight, while hundreds of trains were cancelled and dozens of metro stations were closed ahead of Saturday’s planned protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in central Delhi.
The CJP has mobilised its supporters to gather at Jantar Mantar. More than 20,000 police and Central Armed Police Forces personnel have been deployed to maintain law and order, reports UNB.