Mamata detained during protest demanding removal of India’s poll chief

Delhi Police detained former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday while she was staging a sit-in protest demanding the removal of India’s Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, near the South Avenue bus stand in New Delhi, reports Hindustan Times.

Mamata had earlier announced that she would join a protest organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) at Jantar Mantar, calling for Kumar’s removal over a revision of electoral rolls.

Police detained dozens of protesters and several leaders across the Indian capital as thousands of security personnel were deployed to prevent the demonstration from escalating. Authorities also suspended transport and telecommunications links as part of security measures to contain the protest.

The demonstration, organised by the youth movement known as “Cockroach”, aimed to mobilise thousands of people against the chief election commissioner over the voter-list revision.

“Long live the revolution,” some young protesters chanted in central Delhi as police pursued demonstrators and bundled dozens into buses, according to a Reuters witness. More protesters continued to arrive despite the police action.

“This is violating the rights of the people and the country will not tolerate this anymore,” Yogendra Solanki, one of the protesters being pushed into a bus, told Reuters.

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The CJP said police also detained its founder, Abhijeet Dipke, and senior leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka as their aircraft arrived in Delhi from Mumbai.

“I have come to be arrested, arrest me ... I am not afraid of you guys,” Dipke was seen telling police officers who approached the trio aboard the aircraft, according to television footage.

“No, this is not an arrest,” a police officer replied, asking them to cooperate.

Germany-based YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was also detained at his residence in Kendriya Vihar society in Sector 56 of Gurugram on Saturday morning, police said.

According to police, Rathee was detained after he declined requests from teams of Gurugram and Delhi police not to travel to the capital to attend the demonstration.