Late-night releases change the picture
Most people detained during Saturday’s Delhi protest crackdown had been released by night, NDTV reported in an update published early on October 11. Its account said the Cockroach Janta Party’s senior leadership and YouTuber Dhruv Rathee were still in custody at 12:15 am IST.
The report identified CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das as having been detained after arriving in Delhi by air. Their continuing detention was a separate issue from the release of other people picked up during the day. The custody account is tied to that reporting time; it does not establish their status throughout Sunday.
[1]Former chief ministers among those freed
The Times of India reported that Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Pinarayi Vijayan and Manik Sarkar had all been released. It said Vijayan left Mandir Marg police station along with CPI(M) parliamentarian John Brittas and former Kerala minister KN Balagopal, while Kejriwal was released from Jaffarpur police station.
TOI cited an ANI report quoting police sources on the continued custody of CJP leaders and the legal process they would face. It also reported that Dipke had named the organisation’s in-charge, Ajinkya Shinde, to lead the protest after his detention.
[2]Permission dispute preceded the detentions
The releases followed police action against people seeking to join a demonstration demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over alleged electoral irregularities. NDTV reported that police cited the absence of permission for the planned Jantar Mantar gathering.
Detainees were held at several locations across the capital. Police sources told NDTV that women and senior citizens were being released first. The late-night update documented substantial releases while making clear that the same outcome had not yet been reported for the CJP’s top leadership.
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