Jantar Mantar: Delhi turned into a fort, hundreds detained, Deepke said - Modi has accepted defeat
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Police forces are on all sides to stop the demonstration of Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) at Jantar Mantar in Delhi today demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
According to news agency PTI, 25 thousand soldiers of police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in Delhi.
245 trains coming to Delhi from different parts of the country have been cancelled.
Also, 45 metro stations inside Delhi have been closed. Internet has been shut down in Jantar Mantar and within a radius of four kilometers from it.
CJP, along with leftist student organizations, farmers' organizations and other groups, has called for a protest at Jantar Mantar on Saturday.
These organizations are demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
They say that the Election Commission has made irregularities in the SIR process, due to which the names of more than 13 crore people have been removed from the voter list.
According to legal news website Live Law, a contempt petition has been filed in the Supreme Court on Saturday. The petition has alleged that many stations of Delhi Metro are closed, while the Supreme Court had directed that transport services should not be completely stopped.
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This contempt petition has been filed against Home Ministry Secretary IAS Govind Mohan, Delhi Police Commissioner IPS Anurag Kumar and DMRC Chairperson IAS D. Thara.
The petitioner has also alleged that train services are being canceled without any proper reason.
It has been said in the petition that due to non-compliance of the court's instructions by the authorities, life has come to a standstill in Delhi.
More than 120 companies of police and paramilitary forces are expected to be deployed to handle security arrangements.
According to news agency PTI, soldiers have been deployed at strategically important places.
Mock drills were conducted at many places to assess security preparedness and arrangements for action in emergency situations.
New Delhi district has been divided into 20 zones for monitoring. They are being monitored by senior officers of the level of Joint Commissioner of Police, Deputy Commissioner of Police and Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police.
Special police commissioners, heads of different units, are also keeping a close watch on the developments.
Joint Police Commissioner Nupur Prasad said on Friday that the application for permission for the demonstration to be held on October 10 was given on October 7. That is, only three days before the proposed demonstration, whereas under the prescribed procedure, it is necessary to give notice at least 10 days in advance.
'Modi has accepted defeat'
Abhijit Deepke told news agency ANI, "I wonder why the Prime Minister is so scared of the youth and people of this country. What was the need to close all railway services and metro stations? He has shut down the internet and blocked the roads."
Deepke was asked whether he could be arrested upon reaching Delhi airport?
To this he replied, "If they want to detain or arrest me, do it. I am ready for it. It doesn't matter to me. Impose UAPA, impose NSA. But we will keep fighting for free and fair elections and to save the democracy of this country."
"Even if I am arrested, the fight for fair elections will continue," he said in an Instagram post on Friday.
Cockroach Janata Party founder Abhijeet Deepke has left for Delhi from Mumbai to take part in the protest.
"Modi has accepted defeat even before our protest has started," he wrote on social media platform X. Large-scale action against the protesters and the lockdown of Delhi are not signs of strength, but a sign that a leader is scared of his own people.
Hundreds of people were detained
According to the report of the English newspaper 'Indian Express', at least 1,000 people were detained overnight in Delhi ahead of the protest called by the Cockroach Janata Party and the All India Students Association (AISA). Now this number has increased even more.
A Delhi Police source told 'The Indian Express' that about 250 of those detained till 12:30 am on Saturday were from the south-eastern district of Delhi.
These especially included people from the areas around Shaheen Bagh. Shaheen Bagh was the center of anti-CAA protests in the year 2020.
Another Delhi Police official said that more than 100 people have been detained from Shahdara and East Delhi districts. Both these districts are adjacent to the border of Uttar Pradesh.
According to officials, this detention has been done as a precautionary measure. They have been detained after identifying people who have a history of mobilizing protesters and creating 'unlawful' situations.
Before the demonstration, these people will be taken to 13 major detention centers identified in every district.
Delhi Police has deployed troops on a large scale across the city. Cockroach Janata Party leaders are likely to reach the capital around 10:15 am on Saturday.
According to 'Indian Express', more than 30,000 policemen will be deployed on the spot while tight security arrangements will be made in all the border areas of Delhi.
According to the deployment plan, platoons and detachments of male and female policemen along with police inspectors will be deployed at these places in the first shift.
Inter-district border posts have been established between Central Delhi and New Delhi districts. Apart from this, such check posts have also been made at places connecting South, South-East and South-West Delhi districts.
Access from areas near New Delhi, such as Ashoka Road and Tolstoy Road, will also be difficult. These areas are at walking distance, but 10 barricades have been installed on this route and dozens of paramilitary forces are deployed.
Elaborate preparations since Friday night
According to BBC correspondent Shubh Rana, who came to see the police security arrangements around Jantar Mantar, the protesters started gathering in small groups of four-five people at around ten o'clock on Friday night. As the night progressed, the number of people in these groups started increasing.
Amid reports of problems in internet connectivity, some protesters were taking photographs.
He told, “People came here from different states. We met a group of Gen Z who had also participated in the CJP protest. SFI members said that they have changed their place of stay. He said that the police is identifying the protesters and putting them under house arrest.
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