Delhi Police detained protest organisers, journalists and lawyers and imposed sweeping restrictions across the capital on Saturday to prevent a youth-led demonstration demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Authorities had denied permission for the protest, closed Metro stations, blocked roads and restricted movement across the city. Former Union minister and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said 250 trains had been cancelled and 45 Metro stations closed, while around 22,000 police and paramilitary personnel had been deployed. Thousands of people were reportedly detained, including young people picked up from their homes and streets.

Despite the restrictions, protesters and their supporters said they would continue to mobilise.

‘This is worse than the Emergency’: Kejriwal

Former Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal described the situation as “worse than the Emergency”.

“This is worse than the Emergency. It’s official, we are living under an absolute dictatorship ruled by Modi. Arresting cockroaches [CJP leaders] straight off their flight shows an unprecedented level of fear,” Kejriwal said.

He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of trying to suppress democracy to protect an election he alleged had been won through vote theft.

“PM Modi clearly knows he only won the election through vote chori and now he is hell-bent on protecting his fraud by completely crushing democracy. Gyanesh must go, but so must Modi,” he said.

The government and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have rejected opposition allegations concerning the integrity of the electoral process.

CJP leaders detained after arriving in Delhi

Police detained Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), after he arrived in Delhi from Mumbai, the party said. Television channels reported that police met him at the airport and asked him to call off the protest because authorities had banned it.

CJP co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were also detained after their flight landed, the movement said.

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Anish Gawande said he would still head to Jantar Mantar.

“We will all go to Jantar Mantar. If the police want to detain us, they can do so,” Gawande said, according to the news agency IANS.

“But they need to understand that they can detain one Abhijeet Dipke, one Saurav Das, one Ashutosh Ranka, one Afreen Nawaz, one Ratna...but how will they detain all of us?” he added.

Journalists detained while covering protest

Several journalists covering the demonstration were detained or nearly taken into custody.

The Wire journalists Sravasti Dasgupta, Jahnavi Sen and Antara Baruah were nearly detained a few hundred metres from the outlet’s office in Gol Market, despite displaying their press identification and telling police they were journalists. Female police personnel insisted that the three had to be detained and “dropped” elsewhere. They were allowed to leave only after other journalists arrived.

Scroll senior correspondent Ayush Tewari was detained outside HKS Bhawan in ITO while covering the protest. He told The Wire that he had been wearing his press card prominently and was inside a police bus. He was told he was being taken to Sarai Rohilla Police Station.

Scroll editor Supriya Sharma said Tewari had not been at Jantar Mantar and had repeatedly identified himself as a journalist.

“He was not even at Jantar Mantar. He had his press card prominently displayed. He told the police many times he was a journalist. Despite that he was bundled into a van and taken away,” Sharma wrote on X.

Delhi Police also detained three Newslaundry journalists—Ashwine Kumar Singh, Astha Savyasachi and Anmol Pritam—according to the outlet. Police also seized the organisation’s official phones from the reporters, Newslaundry reported.

AAP says national office sealed

Aam Aadmi Party leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said on X that Delhi Police had sealed the party’s national office.

Tharoor condemns restrictions across capital

Tharoor said he had rarely witnessed restrictions on movement and public protest on the scale seen in Delhi.

“I have rarely seen anything like what Delhi is witnessing now, with checkpoints every few hundred metres, concrete barriers and spike strips laid across our roads, a war-like deployment of 22,000 police and paramilitary across the city, 250 trains cancelled and 45 metro stations closed, and reports of young people being detained from their own homes and the streets in and around Delhi—all to prevent citizens from peacefully raising questions about the integrity of our elections,” he wrote on X.

He also criticised the reported suspension of internet services in parts of the capital.

“Barricades will do nothing to restore faith in the Election Commission, and the sooner it answers the public’s questions, the sooner calm will be restored,” he said. “The strength of a democracy is measured by how it treats those who question its working, and by that measure, what we have seen today is utterly shameful and unconscionable.”

Lawyers detained; bar associations demand intervention

Delhi Police and central forces detained lawyers marching from the Supreme Court towards Jantar Mantar, according to reports.

The Supreme Court Bar Association urged Chief Justice of India Surya Kant to intervene in the detention of lawyers, LiveLaw reported. It condemned what it described as excessive force against and detention of senior and young advocates, particularly women, who were peacefully protesting in the Supreme Court area.

The Bombay Lawyers Association also condemned restrictions on public protest and individual movement, calling them unconstitutional and demanding their immediate removal.

“By imposing undeclared emergency, it reminds us of emergency days,” the association said in a resolution, according to Bar and Bench.

BJP chief accuses opposition of trying to destabilise India

BJP national president Nitin Nabin accused opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and CJP, which he linked to Kejriwal, of attempting to destabilise the country through the protest.

“Today, an attempt is being made to create a highly dangerous and serious situation in the country. Efforts are underway to destabilise the nation—where 1.4 billion people are living in peace and harmony, contributing collectively to India’s development,” Nabin said, according to news agency ANI.

He described the two groups as “anarchic” and accused them of seeking to create instability for political gain and acting at the behest of foreign forces.

“Indian democracy possesses immense strength, and the patriots of this nation will unite to thwart your designs,” he said.

Tushar Gandhi held in Mumbai

Activist and author Tushar Gandhi was detained by Mumbai Police and remained in custody at DN Nagar Police Station, according to his post on X.

“Even though i have been arrested the August Kranti Maidan Protest continues. Chalo August Kranti Maidan!” he wrote.

Yogendra Yadav says unmarked vehicle followed him

Political activist Yogendra Yadav said an unmarked Scorpio SUV was following him as he travelled towards the protest.

In a video posted on X, he said he feared he could be detained or abducted.

“One thing is clear—we may be detained, arrested, or whatever they wish, but this struggle will not stop. This struggle continues. Jai Hind!” he said.

Villagers detain police in Haryana

In Haryana’s Kabilpur village, villagers detained police personnel who had arrived to detain them, independent journalist Mandeep Punia reported.

CJP policy head Mehr Pasricha detained

CJP’s policy head Mehr Pasricha was also detained by Delhi Police, according to a video shared by the organisation.

“There are ten police officers who have come. I asked them why I am being detained. They said ‘law and order situation’. I asked what law and order situation, they said ‘interrogation’,” Pasricha said in the video.

Police personnel surrounded her in a vehicle and stopped her from recording, according to the footage.

The protest centres on demands for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over allegations concerning the integrity of India’s electoral system. The restrictions and detentions have drawn criticism from opposition leaders, lawyers and press organisations over the handling of peaceful assembly and media coverage.

Originally published as live updates by The Wire.