Security personnel run towards demonstrators to disperse them during a protest organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged electoral roll irregularities, at Connaught Place, in New Delhi, Saturday, October 10. PTI
Delhi protests LIVE | Over 7,000 detained; CJP: Will march to Jantar Mantar again on Sunday
SC to hear special petition tomorrow on Delhi curbs; police go on detention spree to stop anti-CEC protests
Delhi turned into a veritable battle zone—as well as a prison zone for the Opposition—on Saturday (October 10), when several INDIA bloc leaders, including four former chief ministers—TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, CPM veteran Pinarayi Vijayan, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, and Manik Sarkar, were detained for trying to join the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) anti-CEC protest call at Jantar Mantar.
Apart from Mamata and Pinarayi, Delhi Police have detained over 7,000 people including CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, CJP's Ratna Singh, Sourav Das and many journalists and content creators.
Senior Left leaders like MP John Brittas and MA Baby, along with Pinarayi, were taken to Chhatrasal Stadium briefly before reportedly being driven around in a police jeep, Brittas alleged. They were later taken to Mandir Marg Police Station. Veteran Left leader Brinda Karat, CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, activist Yogendra Yadav and lawyer Prashant Bhushan were also among those detained.
Also read: Meet the faces of India’s Gen Z protest movement
Kejriwal was detained outside his Lodhi Estate residence while marching towards Jantar Mantar with AAP leaders and workers. The party leaders detained with him included Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh, Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj, MLA Kuldeep Kumar and national media in-charge Anurag Dhanda. Senior AAP leader Gopal Rai was also detained while protesting at the party office.
Dipke detained from aircraft
Mamata and other TMC MPs were detained from South Avenue, while many journalists trying to cover the protests were allegedly detained along with the Opposition leaders. Tushar Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson, was reportedly detained in Mumbai.
Also read: ‘Undeclared Emergency’: Opposition leaders slam Modi govt over detentions in Delhi
Dipke's detention was dramatic. A Delhi Police team boarded the aircraft carrying him after it landed in Delhi and detained him. Dipke went live on Instagram as the officers entered the plane. The video shows the police team boarding the flight, and Dipke, along with fellow CJP members Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, being detained on board.
A defiant Dipke said CJP's Ajinkya Shinde would lead the Jantar Mantar protest, while AISA chief Neha Bora launched a protest in Dilli Haat along with other activists. Neha was alsod detained soon afterwards. After days of intense protests, Congress was missing in action as Rahul Gandhi left for Chennai for his prescheduled Chhatron ki Goonj event.
Jantar Mantar wears a deserted look
Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site, wore a deserted look throughout the day, with the deployment of over 30,000 security personnel and waves of barricades in Lutyens' Delhi to keep the protesters away from the area.
Opposition parties likened the situation to one worse than the Emergency, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi urging the youth to "keep protesting" and asserting that "we are going to ensure that this regime and the people who have attacked the Constitution are defeated".
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge lashed out at the Modi government over the detentions by Delhi police, saying it has turned the "mother of democracy" into a "muzzled democracy". The Congress chief alleged that the cowardice of the BJP-RSS is on full display today.
The Congress, which has been holding protests demanding the resignation of the CEC over alleged vote theft, however, maintained its distance from the CJP protest.
CJP to march to Jantar Mantar again tomorrow
On Saturday evening, CJP said it was not "backing down" and announced that it will march to Jantar Mantar again tomorrow (October 11).
"The Modi government fears that if we unite again, their throne will be at stake. But we’re not backing down. We will march to Jantar Mantar again tomorrow and stay there until all our demands are met," CJP said.
Read live updates here.
Live Updates
- 10 Oct 2026 4:51 PM IST
AISA students detained in Bengaluru
Nearly 50 students of the All India Students' Association (AISA) were detained by police in Bengaluru as they were protesting against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, at the Freedom Park in the city.
- 10 Oct 2026 4:47 PM IST
Watch our ground report from Delhi
Watch our ground report from Delhi as police detain protesters.
- 10 Oct 2026 4:45 PM IST
Hold protests on Sundays, in designated spaces: Vinayak Chatterjee
As metro stations shut and buses, trains and flights are disrupted in Delhi during the protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Vinayak Chatterjee, Chairman of the National Committee on Infrastructure and PPP at CII, told The Federal that the real cost goes beyond economics.
Watch the full interview here.
- 10 Oct 2026 4:26 PM IST
Several journalists released after Delhi detention, two still in custody
Several journalists detained by Delhi Police while covering protests in New Delhi have been released, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on Saturday. However, two journalists from Malayalam-language channel Reporter TV, Roshni Rajan and Farsa TM, remained in detention, according to the organisation’s latest update.
CPJ called on Delhi Police to release all detained journalists and media workers, return their equipment and investigate reports of physical abuse. It also urged authorities to allow the press to cover the protests and the police response without interference.
Earlier, Scroll reporter Ayush Tiwari was detained near ITO despite displaying his press card and repeatedly telling police he was a journalist, Scroll said. He was later released along with Newslaundry reporters Ashwine Kumar Singh, Astha Savyasachi and Anmol Pritam.
Scroll journalist Shoaib Daniyal, who had also been detained, was subsequently released, CPJ said.
The detentions took place amid protests in Delhi against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. CPJ urged authorities to release Rajan and Farsa and allow journalists to carry out their work without restrictions.
- 10 Oct 2026 4:13 PM IST
Dipke informed of grandmother's death by police
Delhi Police has informed Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke about his grandmother’s death in Maharashtra, leaving him to decide whether to remain in detention or return home for her last rites, PTI reported quoting police sources.
Dipke’s paternal grandmother, Savitribai Shankarrao Dipke (85), died at her home in Santuk Pimpri village in Maharashtra’s Hingoli district around 11.30 am on Saturday after a prolonged illness, stated the report. Her last rites are scheduled for 10 am on Sunday.
Dipke was detained at Delhi airport along with CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka after they arrived from Mumbai to attend a planned protest at Jantar Mantar against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The party said the three were taken into custody from inside their aircraft shortly after it landed.
A cousin said the family initially struggled to reach Dipke because he was being held in Delhi. His parents had been informed of the death and were travelling to the village.
Dipke had last met his grandmother on August 15, when he launched the ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign in Hingoli district. He saw her once again after that but had not visited her in the past 20 to 25 days, stated the report.
Meanwhile, police detained more than 500 people on Saturday as protesters tried to reach Jantar Mantar despite a heavy security deployment. Police had denied permission for the demonstration and imposed prohibitory orders in the area.
- 10 Oct 2026 4:05 PM IST
AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj slams police crackdown on protesters
Delhi AAP president Saurabh Bharadwaj on Saturday criticised the police crackdown on young protesters who gathered in the capital to demand their rights, accusing the government of suppressing dissent through a heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces.
“Today, young people from every corner of the country—often referred to as Gen-Z—have come to the national capital to demand their rights,” Bharadwaj said.
Drawing a comparison with the freedom struggle, he said Mahatma Gandhi had been allowed to march during the Dandi March. “Even the British acknowledged the right to raise one's voice. Yet, the current government says you cannot even raise your voice; you cannot even speak,” he said.
Bharadwaj warned that restricting peaceful dissent could lead to unrest. “If you do not allow voices to be raised in this country, you are effectively sowing the seeds of anarchy,” he said.
Questioning the scale of the security deployment, he asked: “Has there been an attack by Pakistan? Or by Bangladesh? Or by China?”
He also challenged allegations that CJP supporters were foreigners, asking why the government feared them if those claims were true.
“They have been courting arrest since morning, and I believe this will continue throughout the day. We are not afraid of getting arrested...” Bharadwaj said.
- 10 Oct 2026 3:52 PM IST
CJP's Ajinkya Shinde urges protesters to march to Jantar Mantar
Former Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal shared a video from a bus on Saturday, saying that he and other party leaders, including Sanjay Singh, had been detained by Delhi Police.
Protesters travelling with the leaders were heard raising slogans demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The detentions came amid heightened security across Delhi over the Cockroach Janata Party’s (CJP) protest against alleged irregularities in electoral rolls linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
- 10 Oct 2026 3:38 PM IST
Kejriwal says he is detained, shares video
Former Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal shared a video from a bus on Saturday, saying that he and other party leaders, including Sanjay Singh, had been detained by Delhi Police.
Protesters travelling with the leaders were heard raising slogans demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The detentions came amid heightened security across Delhi over the Cockroach Janata Party’s (CJP) protest against alleged irregularities in electoral rolls linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
- 10 Oct 2026 3:32 PM IST
Safdarjung flyover partially reopens as Delhi protesters leave
Protesters are beginning to disperse from the area, allowing traffic to resume on one side of the Safdarjung flyover. Vehicles can now travel from India Gate towards AIIMS, but the opposite carriageway, from AIIMS towards India Gate, remains shut, reported India Today.
- 10 Oct 2026 3:21 PM IST
Normalcy returns to Delhi stations, no more train cancellations planned
Normalcy is returning to New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin railway stations amid tight security in the capital over the Cockroach Janata Party’s (CJP) protest, reported India Today quoting railway sources said on Saturday.
There are no plans to cancel additional trains at present, the sources said, as railway operations gradually return to normal.
Railway officials remain in regular contact with law enforcement agencies to track the situation and coordinate any response required, they added.
Security was stepped up across Delhi amid the protest demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
