CJP, Left groups allege supporters detained ahead of October 10 protest

Ahead of the October 10 protest in Delhi, several groups, including the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), on Thursday ( October 8) alleged that protesters were being picked up from across the country.

“This government has crossed all limits now. A group of students from Pune was on its way to Delhi to join the October 10 protest. They have been detained midway and are now being taken away in a bus to an unknown location,” the CJP stated.

The CJP also shared a video purportedly showing youth inside a moving bus in Madhya Pradesh. One of the youth could be heard saying they have been detained by the Madhya Pradesh police.

CJP co-convener Ashutosh Ranka said Deepak Baliyan, the organisation’s co-in-charge, had been detained in Rajasthan. He claimed that thousands of volunteers had been detained in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

‘Peaceful protesters’

“In Kolkata, Abdul and his team were picked up by people in plainclothes and taken to undisclosed locations. These States have become completely crime-free, and hence the police are busy detaining peaceful students,” Mr. Ranka said.

Meanwhile, the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), one of five Left organisations that jointly called for the October 10 protest, alleged that police personnel had been visiting activists’ homes and intimidating their families to prevent them from travelling to Delhi.

‘Vote chori’

“Since last night, the police have been visiting the homes of activists associated with SFI and other democratic organisations, detaining them and intimidating their families in an attempt to prevent them from travelling to Delhi for the October 10 protest against ‘vote chori’,” the SFI said in a statement.

The organisation said those detained included Arif, its Saharanpur district convener, and Daud Rao, a leader of the All India Kisan Sabha. It also alleged that activists were being pressured to disclose information, including addresses and personal details.