Dhruv Rathee Released After Detention as Delhi Protest Crackdown Sees Over 7,000 Held
YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was released by the Crime Branch in Gurugram at about 2 a.m. on Sunday, hours after he was detained at his residence, police said.
A spokesperson for the Gurugram police said no charges had been pressed against him.
A police source, however, said Mr. Rathee could be detained again, or face further legal action, if he attempted to travel to Jantar Mantar in Delhi despite prohibitory orders in force there.
Mr. Rathee was detained from his home in Gurugram's Sector 56 on Saturday, as police increased security across the national capital to prevent protesters from reaching Jantar Mantar for a demonstration. The protest demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities relating to the SIR, an electoral roll revision exercise.
The detention took place during a large security deployment in Delhi, where police sources said more than 7,000 protesters were detained at multiple locations.
Several opposition leaders were also detained while attempting to join the protest. They included former Chief Ministers Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, Pinarayi Vijayan and Manik Sarkar.
CJP leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das were placed under preventive arrest after being detained at the airport.
A senior police officer said multiple First Information Reports (FIRs) were likely to be registered in connection with alleged assaults on personnel during the protest.
The detentions came a day after authorities invoked prohibitory orders in the area around Jantar Mantar, which bar assemblies of a specified size. Police sources cited these restrictions while explaining the action against those attempting to reach the site.
Two points of law are relevant here. First, detention or preventive arrest is not a finding of guilt, and those held retain the right to approach a court for relief. Second, the allegations of irregularities in the SIR, which form the basis of the protest, remain allegations; they have not been established before any court. The Election Commission's position on these allegations was not available in the information released so far.
Saturday's events marked one of the largest rounds of detentions connected to a single demonstration in the capital in recent years, according to the figures provided by police sources. Independent confirmation of the number of persons detained was not immediately available.
The Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Left parties and other opposition groups had backed the call to march to Jantar Mantar, while the government has defended the security arrangements as necessary to maintain public order.
This report is based on information provided by the Gurugram police and inputs from the Press Trust of India. Readers should note that details of detentions and the filing of FIRs are provisional and may change as official records are updated.
