Chennai police detain over 30 people in solidarity with CJP's Delhi Chalo call

The Chennai police detained more than 30 people on Saturday who were protesting near Besant Nagar's Elliot Beach in solidarity with the Cockroach Janta Party's proposed demonstration in Delhi seeking the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The protesters gathered around 8 am and raised slogans against the Union government and the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, and were taken to a community centre in Thiruvalluvar Nagar nearby.

Police told the demonstrators that the activity was not permitted near the beach and asked them to seek permission on another date, and detained them when they continued the protest.

Radhika Ganesh, who led the protest, said it was part of the Delhi Chalo campaign and that the agitation would continue until Gyanesh Kumar resigned, alleging that 13 crore voters had been removed from electoral rolls without evidence.

Another participant, Dilip Srinivasan, alleged that the police began dragging protesters forcefully into private vans after refusing to give written permission to disperse, and that women and students were mishandled.

He further alleged that spectators recording the incident were also detained, citing the case of a sportsperson named Sandeep who was released only after giving a written undertaking not to join any protest.

Tamil Nadu Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin condemned the detentions and demanded the immediate release of the youths, while DMK president M K Stalin accused the ruling TVK government of acting as an extension of the BJP and unleashing police action on protesting students.

The detentions in Chennai were part of a wider crackdown across the country ahead of the October 10 protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, where the Delhi Police detained CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and two other leaders from an aircraft at the Indira Gandhi International Airport after denying permission for the demonstration.