Delhi crackdown: thousands detained, 45 metro stations shut ahead of youth protest at Jantar Mantar
Central Delhi was turned into a fortress on Saturday as police moved pre-emptively against the Cockroach Janta Party's ‘Save Democracy’ protest at Jantar Mantar, called to demand Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation over the special intensive revision of voter rolls.
Thousands were detained before the protest could begin, including CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke, YouTubers Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and Dhruv Rathee, and opposition leaders Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal. Police barricaded Jantar Mantar, set up checkpoints across the capital, deployed around 30,000 personnel and shut 45 metro stations.
The protest targets the voter-list revision that the opposition says removed some 130 million names. Police had denied permission for the gathering, warning of legal action; the INDIA bloc has now called a mega protest for Monday, setting up another tense day in the capital.
