Guwahati: The national Capital- New Delhi today has been placed under tight security ahead of the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) protest against the Election Commission at Jantar Mantar, with police detaining hundreds of protesters and placing several Congress workers and members of other political parties under house arrest.
At around 10.10 am, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was reportedly detained at his residence in Gurugram ahead of the demonstration.
The protest, scheduled to begin at 10 am, is expected to draw around 20,000 people, according to police estimates. Nearly 35,000 personnel from Delhi Police and paramilitary forces have been deployed as part of an extensive security operation.
Police have reportedly taken around 500 protesters into custody. Security has also been tightened outside the Parliament Street police station, where personnel have been deployed to prevent any untoward incidents.
More than 30 blockade points have been identified, including at Delhi’s borders. Police are checking commuters’ destinations at several entry points to restrict movement towards central Delhi.
Mobile internet services have been suspended for 24 hours within a 4-km radius of the Janpath-Kartavya Path crossing, from 10 pm on Friday until 10 pm on Saturday.
Entry and exit gates at 45 Delhi Metro stations, including Rajiv Chowk, New Delhi, Central Secretariat, Patel Chowk and Kashmere Gate, have been ordered to remain closed. More than 250 trains scheduled to arrive at New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin stations between 4 am and 2 pm on Saturday have also been cancelled.