CJP protest today: After Mamata, Delhi Police detains AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal

The Delhi Police on Saturday detained Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal outside the Lodhi Estate amid the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar. He was detained during the CJP's protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged manipulation in voter list during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and changes relating to Form 6, used for voter registration.

Kejriwal previously condemned the Centre over the "worse than Emergency" security crackdown in central Delhi to thwart the protest and the detention of the party's top leadership, including Abhijeet Dipke. After the detention of CJP leaders on Saturday, Kejriwal said that by arresting "cockroaches" on their flight, Prime Minister Narendra Modi showed that he is "scared".

Soon after Kejriwal's detention, the AAP posted a video wherein Delhi Police personnel can be shown beating up a protestor. The AAP post read, "Are Delhi Police beating peaceful GenZ protestors on the orders of Amit Shah?"

The Delhi Police also detained senior AAP leader Gopal Rai, who was staging a protest against Gyanesh Kumar and demanding his resignation. Earlier in the day, senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia and Punjab AAP leaders and workers were detained by the police on Saturday as they participated in an agitation against Gyanesh Kumar outside the Chief Electoral Officer's office in Chandigarh.

Moreover, the Delhi Police detained former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee along with several MPs of her faction of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), including Derek O'Brien, Dola Sen and others.

After detention, Banerjee said that she and her party MPs held a peaceful protest but weren't even allowed to sit in. “We don't care, we're not afraid. Everyone knows what's happening in the country. The battle will go on,” she said.

So far, the Delhi Police has detained nearly 500 protestors, including CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, foiling their attempts to reach Jantar Mantar. Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained by the Delhi Police from inside the plane as soon as their flight landed in the national capital. The leaders arrived in Delhi to lead the protest against Gyanesh Kumar.