Youth Congress workers in Batman masks detained amid heavy barricading

The Youth Congress workers wore Batman masks. They set out from Akbar Road towards Kartavya Path, led by the youth wing’s president, Uday Bhanu Chib. The Youth Congress said police detained 25 of them.

The route they tried to take ran through a part of the city that had been rebuilt overnight into a metal maze. Yellow barricades blocked key roads in the city centre, restricting access to Jantar Mantar, the designated protest site. Police had put up two layers of barricades. The Capital had deployed more than 20,000 police and paramilitary personnel.

The Youth Congress did not get the site it wanted. Chib said Delhi Police had refused permission for a demonstration at Jantar Mantar, though the organisation had been asking since September 25.  His response targeted the barricades themselves.

Police could deploy and deny permissions, he said, but could not barricade the voice of India’s youth.

On Janpath, security personnel stood watch for the day’s second movement. They are keeping vigil ahead of the INDIA bloc’s planned march to Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The opposition MPs began that march indoors. They gathered in Parliament’s Central Hall, among them Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and CPI general secretary MA Baby. 

The plan was a foot march from Central Hall to Rashtrapati Bhavan, with the possibility of courting arrest if they were stopped.  Rashtrapati Bhavan had asked to cut the delegation from 15 leaders to 10.

The appointment with the President was at 8 pm.

After the day’s marches, the city was set to shut down for the next one.

Delhi Police wrote to the Metro operator asking it to close entry and exit gates at 57 stations from 9 pm, ahead of a protest the Cockroach Janta Party planned for October 10. Several incoming trains had also been cancelled.

The Government ordered retail liquor shops shut on October 9 and 10.

Hearing a plea against the closures, the Supreme Court directed the Centre to ensure there was no complete prohibition on Metro and train movement into Delhi on October 10.