The arrests came a day after the federal Home Ministry announced that Jantar Mantar, long associated with public protests in Delhi, would no longer be a designated protest site. Instead, authorities identified three alternative locations where demonstrations can be held with permission. Before the decision, the CJP had met Delhi Police officials to seek permission for a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar and had warned that it would announce more protests if it did not receive a response. “30 minutes after we went to the Delhi Police to ask for a date when we can go to Jantar Mantar, Jantar Mantar was denotified as a protest site,” Ranka had earlier posted on X. Most of the party leaders have been in Delhi in recent days. Dipke, however, had traveled to his hometown in Maharashtra after his grandmother’s death. He was among several CJP leaders detained ahead of a rally planned for Saturday and was released the following day. The CJP had called for a protest at Jantar Mantar on Saturday, but authorities imposed extensive security restrictions across the capital to prevent protesters from reaching the site. Several metro stations were closed, train services were disrupted and thousands of police and paramilitaries were deployed. Over the weekend, police detained and released thousands of people, including several journalists. Some videos and photographs of the protest show police forcibly dragging people, including women, and pushing them onto buses.
