Around 5,000 protesters were reportedly detained in Delhi on Saturday (October 10) during demonstrations demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged voter-list irregularities.

Those detained reportedly included former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke, popular youtuber Dhruv Rathee, according to Indian media reports.

Other prominent detainees reportedly included former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Trinamool Congress  leaders Derek O’Brien and Dola Sen, AISA president Neha Bora, Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh, political activist Yogendra Yadav and senior advocate Prashant Bhushan.

CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were also detained after arriving in Delhi by flight, while police took several opposition leaders and activists into preventive custody at different locations, media reports said.

According to 'The Hindu', more than 5,000 people had been detained by 2PM, citing a Delhi Police officer. Reuters, however, reported that hundreds had been detained, while the Associated Press said authorities had detained thousands. The protest was organised by the CJP to demand Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The Election Commission has denied allegations of partisan manipulation.

The protests were organised over allegations of irregularities in voter lists. Police reportedly divided the New Delhi district into 20 operational zones and used detention centres and stadiums as temporary holding facilities, according to reports by ANI.

SM/CitizenTimes