Delhi Police detained Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday outside his residence as he set out on foot for Jantar Mantar to join the Cockroach Janta Party protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The former Delhi chief minister had earlier accused the Centre of imposing a clampdown "worse than the Emergency".
AAP leader Atishi condemned the detention on X, describing Kejriwal as a three-time chief minister taken into custody for demanding Kumar's resignation.
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3-time Delhi Chief Minister @ArvindKejriwal brutally taken into custody by Delhi Police, for demanding Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. Modi Ji: how many people will you put behind bars to save Gyanesh Kumar? https://t.co/puVxYaXT8s
— Atishi (@AtishiAAP) October 10, 2026
She asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi how many people he would jail to protect the election commissioner.
Earlier in the day, Kejriwal reacted on X to the detention of the CJP's top leadership.
Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were taken into custody after their flight landed in the capital.
Kejriwal said detaining the "cockroaches" straight off a flight showed Modi was scared, and that the country was living under "absolute dictatorship".
He also repeated the opposition's allegation of "vote chori", or vote theft.
Kejriwal claimed that Modi had won the election only through such fraud and was now trying to protect it by crushing democracy. "Gyanesh must go, but so must Modi," he said.
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AAP alleged that Delhi Police had turned Kejriwal's residence into a fortress before the march. On Friday, he had said he and his family would join the protest, and urged young people to turn up for the demonstration seeking Kumar's resignation over the alleged vote theft.
The CJP, which began as a viral online movement, has alleged irregularities in voter registration and in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Police refused permission for the Jantar Mantar rally, saying organisers had applied too late.
The capital has seen an unprecedented security deployment. More than 20,000 personnel have been posted across the city, and internet services were suspended within 4 km of Jantar Mantar for 24 hours.
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Entry and exit gates were shut at 45 Metro stations and over 250 trains were cancelled. About 400 protesters were detained overnight, and those picked up on Saturday were taken to Chhatrasal Stadium.
Several opposition leaders have also been held, including Kerala Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan and CPI(M) MP John Brittas.
With Dipke, Das and Ranka in custody, the CJP has named Organisation In-Charge Ajinkya Shinde to lead the protest in their absence.
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