Dhruv Rathee Says He Was ‘Kidnapped’ After Release Following Detention Ahead of Delhi Protest
The YouTuber alleges police misconduct after being taken from his Gurugram residence ahead of the CJP demonstration against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, who was detained on Saturday morning, ahead of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) October 10 protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar amid the SIR and voter deletion row, was released late last night, reports said. Rathee was detained from his residence in Gurugram’s Sector 56 before CJP’s proposed protest yesterday. Rathee, who lives abroad, had come to join the demonstration against the CEC.
The YouTuber after being released posted a video message on X and alleged that he was neither “detained or arrested but was kidnapped.”
Rathee narrated the ordeal how the cops arrived at his house and took him away. The YouTuber referred to cops as “goons” questioning police action. He also hit out at the government and said that this doesn’t happen in a democracy adding “PM Modi is turning it into a dictatorship.”
Not just Dhruv Rathee, but all the top leaders of the CJP, including founder Abhijeet Dipke and co-founders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, and hundreds and thousands of protesters were detained by Delhi Police on Saturday. While the protesters and supporters were released lately, CJP’s top brass – including Dipke, Das, and Ranka – have been taken under preventive custody and are likely to be produced before a magistrate today. Meanwhile, the CJP, in the wake of its leaders’ detention, has given a call that it will march to Jantar Mantar every day till the time CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s exit.
On Saturday, the national capital was turned into a fortress as police launched a sweeping crackdown, detaining CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke, Rathee and nearly 500 protesters, foiling their bid to reach Jantar Mantar, while the Opposition denounced the situation as “worse than the Emergency.”