The reported police deployment triggered a confrontation at the Press Club, with journalists allegedly manhandled and dragged away. The incident has raised fresh concerns over press freedom and media access.
BY PC Bureau
New Delhi, October 11: The Press Club of India became the latest flashpoint in the escalating confrontation between Delhi Police and the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Sunday, after police personnel reportedly surrounded the premises with barricades and deployed hundreds of security personnel following a press conference by party leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das.
The police deployment triggered a tense confrontation at the Press Club, with journalists reporting restrictions on their movement and access to detained protesters. According to accounts from the scene, police personnel and security forces manhandled journalists and dragged protesters away as the situation deteriorated.
The confrontation unfolded as the CJP leaders, released after nearly 24 hours in preventive custody, attempted to address the media about their detention and announce the continuation of their agitation demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The reported police cordon around the Press Club, a prominent institution representing journalists, raised fresh concerns about press freedom and the ability of the media to report on police action. The specific details of the alleged siege and the circumstances of individual detentions at the Press Club were not independently confirmed in the contemporaneous reports reviewed for this article.
The confrontation also came hours after the Supreme Court intervened over the police crackdown on protesters, directing authorities to ensure free movement, restore normal public transport services and prevent illegal detentions. The court’s directions have placed the conduct of the police operation under heightened scrutiny.
Delhi: NSUI workers were detained by police outside the Press Club of India while protesting against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and raising slogans demanding his resignation.
#Delhi #Delhi_Police #cjp_पार्टी #GyaneshKumar https://t.co/7DzIXqoxgz
— Dynamite News (@DynamiteNews_) October 11, 2026
CJP Leaders Take Shelter Inside Press Club as Police Close In
The tension reportedly escalated after Ranka and Das addressed a press conference at the Press Club of India following their release from custody.
According to accounts from the premises, police personnel erected barricades around the Press Club and deployed a large number of officers in what appeared to be an attempt to prevent the CJP leaders from being taken away again.
As the police presence intensified, Ranka, Das and other party leaders reportedly moved towards the first-floor office of the Press Club secretary, seeking shelter inside the building.
The situation became more volatile when a group of supporters of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the Congress-affiliated student organisation, arrived at the Press Club. The supporters reportedly said they would not allow the CJP leaders to be arrested.
The arrival of the NSUI supporters added another layer to an already tense confrontation between the police, the CJP leadership, student activists and journalists.
Accounts from the scene described confusion and heightened tension as police personnel attempted to control movement around the premises. Journalists covering the developments were themselves reportedly manhandled and dragged away by security personnel.
The episode would mark a significant escalation in the police action surrounding the CJP agitation: from preventing demonstrators from reaching a protest venue to a confrontation at a press institution where political leaders were speaking to the media.
‘An Emergency Has Been Imposed’: Saurav Das
Earlier, at the press conference, Das alleged that the authorities had effectively imposed an Emergency in the country. He recounted how he, Ranka and CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke had been detained inside an aircraft after it landed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Saturday.
The three leaders had travelled from Mumbai to participate in the CJP’s planned demonstration at Jantar Mantar, demanding Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Their detention inside the aircraft was widely reported. Police officers boarded the flight after it landed, and the leaders were taken away before they could proceed to the planned demonstration.
Das alleged that the police did not explain the grounds for taking them into custody or show them any written order at the time.
“We were not told why we were being arrested, we were shown no paper. Our telephones were seized and we suspect that police may have planted some incriminating evidence in the phone,” Das said.
The allegation that evidence might have been planted in a seized phone was a suspicion expressed by Das, not an independently established fact.
The leaders’ detention came amid an extensive security operation across Delhi on Saturday, when police detained large numbers of protesters and activists to prevent them from reaching Jantar Mantar. Reports documented restrictions affecting public transport, heavy barricading and the detention of journalists covering the demonstrations.
The CJP leaders were subsequently produced before an Executive Magistrate and released on a surety bond with a condition to maintain peace for one year, according to reports.
Ranka Calls Modi ‘An Embarrassment for the Country’
At the press conference, Ranka launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, describing him as the “most cowardly prime minister” and “an embarrassment for the country”.
The CJP leaders accused the authorities of using preventive detention and sweeping security restrictions to prevent citizens from participating in protests against the Election Commission.
They insisted that the agitation would continue until Gyanesh Kumar resigned and voters were able to exercise their electoral rights freely.
The CJP has accused the Election Commission’s SIR exercise of improperly removing names from electoral rolls and undermining citizens’ voting rights. The Election Commission and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have rejected allegations of deliberate manipulation. The dispute over the revision of voter lists has become the central issue behind the protests.
The leaders’ renewed commitment to continue the agitation came despite their detention at the airport, the wider police operation on Saturday and the restrictions imposed on demonstrators attempting to reach Jantar Mantar.
Journalists Detained Despite Showing Press Credentials
Breaking: at least six more journalists detained, shoved into a van by Delhi Police as they were asking the cops about the detention of a journalist moments ago at the same location.
As I question the police, one of them tells me: ‘this is not the right time to ask anything’. https://t.co/RYAJqElDYk
— Sreenivasan Jain (@SreenivasanJain) October 11, 2026
The reported confrontation at the Press Club followed the detention of journalists covering Saturday’s protests, several of whom were reportedly taken into custody despite displaying their press identity cards.
The Press Club of India, the Indian Women’s Press Corps, the Delhi Union of Journalists and the Delhi unit of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists issued a joint statement condemning the detention and alleged harassment of reporters.
The organisations said journalists had been targeted while documenting police action. They also raised concerns about the seizure of phones and reporting equipment and demanded the release of detained journalists, a public apology and an inquiry.
The reported obstruction of journalists at the Press Club on Sunday would extend those concerns beyond the streets where the protests were taking place.
A press conference is a forum for political leaders to present their accounts and respond to questions from reporters. Any police intervention at such an event therefore raises questions about the legal basis for restricting access, the treatment of journalists and whether the media can report freely on matters of public interest.
However, the precise sequence of events at the Press Club, including the number of journalists allegedly manhandled or detained, the identities of those affected and the police justification for the action, requires further verification.
READ: Delhi Police Makes Mockery of SC Order, Continues Crackdown on Protesters
Supreme Court Orders Free Movement, Warns Against Illegal Detentions
The confrontation at the Press Club unfolded against the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s special hearing on Sunday concerning the police restrictions imposed during the CJP protests.
The court directed authorities to permit the free movement of people and traffic, ensure that Metro and railway services functioned normally unless restrictions were necessary for public order, and keep internet services undisturbed in accordance with the law.
It also made clear that people could not be detained except in accordance with the procedure established by law, particularly when peacefully assembling outside areas where prohibitory orders were in force. The court sought responses from the authorities over allegations concerning the crackdown.
The directions followed allegations that police had used excessive force, detained people without adequate explanation and imposed restrictions that prevented protesters from reaching their intended destination.
The court’s intervention did not amount to a blanket prohibition on lawful police action. Authorities retain the power to enforce valid restrictions and maintain public order, but any detention or restriction must have a lawful basis and comply with the applicable procedure.
The reported events at the Press Club therefore raise a specific question: whether the police action was supported by a demonstrable legal justification and whether journalists were obstructed while performing their professional duties.
The Supreme Court’s directions and the accounts emerging from the Press Club make an official explanation particularly important.
Protest to Continue Until CEC Resigns
The CJP leadership has maintained that it will not abandon its campaign despite the detention of its leaders and the extensive security measures imposed in the capital.
The movement’s immediate demand remains the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise. The Election Commission has defended the revision process, while the protesters argue that electoral-roll changes threaten citizens’ ability to exercise their voting rights.
Sunday’s reported confrontation at the Press Club added a new dimension to the dispute. What began as a campaign to reach Jantar Mantar has developed into a wider controversy involving preventive detention, restrictions on public movement, the treatment of journalists and judicial scrutiny of police action.
The central questions now concern not only the authorities’ handling of the protests but also whether the rights of journalists to report, political leaders to address the media and citizens to assemble peacefully are being respected in practice.
A detailed account from Delhi Police, including the grounds for its reported deployment at the Press Club and any action taken against journalists, is necessary to establish the full circumstances of Sunday’s confrontation.
