Detentions followed a 'Lehra Do Tiranga' gathering at Connaught Place on Friday, where Cockroach Janata Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, student activist Neha Bora, and numerous other attendees were taken into custody by officers after the CJP-organised event. A gathering centred on Central Park in Connaught Place took place as scrutiny of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar mounted over questions about how electoral rolls had been revised.

Demonstrators marched through the streets waving flags, pushing for an end to restrictions on public gatherings and demanding accountability from the Election Commission over its actions. Gatherings took shape at multiple points around Connaught Place, even as Central Park remained closed off and a visible security presence had been put in place across the area.

One broadcaster placed attendance in the vicinity of 2,000 people at the scene, while separate accounts tallied roughly 150 individuals taken into custody by the close of Friday.

Authorities took Dipke into custody before he had any opportunity to take part in the planned protest. Ahead of the planned march, officers delivered a formal notice to him stating that authorisation had not been granted, and outlining concerns about crowd management, road access, and disruption to businesses operating in the congested commercial area.

Bora, who leads the All India Students' Association (AISA), was taken into custody as she and a group of supporters made their way toward Connaught Place. Gatherings linked to student groups and Left-affiliated organisations took place at two locations — near Mandi House and along Firozeshah Road.

Police and paramilitary personnel were deployed across central Delhi's main thoroughfares, with identity verification points and restrictions on movement put in place at several locations around the area. Officers moved through the area as dusk settled, and the crowd had cleared out before nightfall.

Two CJP members — Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das — had their custody extended to five days by a judicial order following a protest at Jantar Mantar, and it was in their support that the march was organised. Detentions followed after a group of individuals reportedly moved past barricades and hoisted the national flag at the location, at a time when public gatherings faced restrictions.

The organisation has placed the national flag at the centre of its protest, raising the question of why those attempting to display the Tricolour were not permitted to do so. At the centre of the group's campaign sit two demands: that protesters be allowed to demonstrate without interference, and that Kumar resign from his position.

Coalitions of student organisations, activist networks, and opposition backers have converged around shared objections to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process for updating electoral rolls. The claim put forward is that the process has stripped numerous voters from the rolls, with electoral participation potentially at risk as a result.

Accusations of political partiality were turned aside by the Election Commission, which maintained that the revision forms a standard part of the electoral-roll process and that any eligible voter left off the list has a pathway to apply for enrolment. BJP leaders put forward a charge that parties in opposition had turned the matter into a political contest.

A notice from the New Delhi Municipal Council put Central Park off-limits on 16 and 17 October, with administrative grounds given for the two-day closure. The internet shutdown, put in place ahead of a planned march, added fresh friction to an ongoing dispute over whether gatherings at Connaught Place require official permission.

Two courts left the matter unresolved: the Delhi High Court chose not to block the planned demonstration, while a petition asking the Supreme Court to take up the park closure on an expedited basis went unheard. Gatherings were permitted only at approved venues, contingent on prior authorisation and any conditions that applied.

These events are unfolding against a broader backdrop of shifting rules around public demonstration in Delhi — among them, the removal of Jantar Mantar from its long-held position as an officially sanctioned gathering point and the designation of alternative locations in its place.

Questions around how police and city officials weigh crowd management against the needs of local businesses and the constitutional protections afforded to those gathering peacefully resurfaced in the wake of the events. Law enforcement pointed to legal frameworks and public-order considerations, while those gathered in opposition maintained that the imposed limits were blocking their ability to voice disagreement.