The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Saturday said 45 metro stations, which were shut from 9 pm on Friday due to security concerns, will remain closed until 10 pm on October 10 amid the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in voter rolls.
The stations were earlier scheduled to reopen at 6 pm.
“The 45 Metro stations, closed since 09:00 PM on Friday due to security reasons will continue to remain closed till 10:00 PM tonight (10th October). Further the situation will be reviewed by the security agencies and necessary updates shall be shared accordingly,” said.
The corporation added that security agencies would review the situation and share further updates as required.
The DMRC on Friday revised its earlier advisory, bringing down the number of stations subject to entry and exit restrictions from 57 to 45. The curbs were introduced at the request of Delhi Police ahead of the anticipated protest, amid concerns about crowd movement towards sensitive locations.
The restrictions apply to several key stations across the network, including Rajiv Chowk, Central Secretariat, Patel Chowk, Janpath, Mandi House, ITO, Kashmere Gate and New Delhi.
Under the earlier advisory, passengers were permitted to use interchange facilities at the affected stations, except at New Delhi metro station.
Earlier in the day, CJP activist , who was travelling from Mumbai to Delhi to take part in the protest, shared a video on Instagram claiming that police detained him and his associates as they disembarked from their flight at Delhi Airport.
The CJP also claimed that content creator Dhruv had been detained, stating, “The Dictator is TERRIFIED of young people who question its wrongdoings and refuse to stay silent.”
As part of the security arrangements, the New Delhi district has been divided into 20 operational zones, with dedicated detention centres set up for each zone, police said.
Former chief ministers Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, Pinarayi Vijayan and Manik Sarkar and INDIA bloc leaders were detained by Delhi Police on Saturday while attempting to join a protest at Jantar Mantar. The demonstrators were demanding Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls.
The detentions occurred at several locations across the capital amid heightened security, barricading and movement restrictions ahead of the demonstration called by the CJP against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Other leaders detained included CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby, veteran Left leader Brinda Karat, CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, activist Yogendra Yadav and lawyer Prashant Bhushan.
Kejriwal was detained outside his Lodhi Estate residence while marching towards Jantar Mantar alongside AAP leaders and workers. As police personnel moved to take him into custody, party workers attempted to prevent the detention.
Police personnel lifted Kejriwal by his legs and chest and carried him towards a police bus.
Those detained alongside him included Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, Delhi AAP chief Saurabh Bharadwaj, MLA Kuldeep Kumar and the party’s national media in-charge, Anurag Dhanda. Senior AAP leader Gopal Rai was also detained while protesting outside the party office.
Before being detained, Kejriwal appealed to young people across the country to protest against alleged electoral malpractice.
