New Delhi: YouTuber Dhruv Rathee on Sunday (October 11) accused police of forcing him out of his home in Delhi on Saturday (October 10) and keeping him in custody for almost a day without letting him call a lawyer or use his phone. He called it a “kidnapping” and said it was not a lawful police action and he was dragged “like a criminal”.In a video posted on his X platform, Rathee dismissed the talk about his citizenship in the beginning. Holding his Indian passport, he said that “he was, is and will remain an Indian citizen” and has the same rights as any other citizen. He accused the media of spreading false news about his nationality to justify his detention.Describing what happened on Saturday morning, Rathee said about 20 people, some in police uniform and some in plain clothes, came into his house around 7 am while he was still asleep. His mother, who answered the door, was pushed aside, he alleged, and the group rushed into his bedroom.Also read: 7,000 Detained in Day of Unprecedented Police Action in Delhi“Before I could even understand what was happening, they ‘kidnapped’ me. It was neither an arrest nor a detention,” he alleged.Rathee argued that being detained at a protest is very different from being removed from one’s home before the protest even begins.“If I had gone to a protest and the police detained me there, that would have been a different matter. If an officer had come in uniform, identified himself, explained the legal provisions and asked me to accompany him to a police station, I would have gone willingly. But nothing of that sort happened,” he said.Further, Rathee mentioned that at that time his parents were at his home, adding that over 50 personnel were posted outside, though he found out about this only afterwards.“When they came inside my bedroom and I woke up. I asked them who are you but they didn’t allow me to say anything. Imagine like a criminal, they dragged me out of my bedroom. I was dragged down the stairs and sustained injured in several parts of my body [shows his hand]. They did not even give me time to put on my slippers. They just shoved me inside a jeep and took me to one police station after the other,” he added. According to Rathee, his phone and his parents’ phones were taken right away, so none of them could film what was happening. I was not arrested or detained, I was KIDNAPPED.Thank you for your support, here’s the full story 👇 https://t.co/gcN8cAUOmY— Dhruv Rathee (@dhruv_rathee) October 11, 2026“They kept me confined for 22-23 hours, without allowing me to use my phone or speak to a lawyer. They kept saying it was neither an arrest nor a detention and that I would be released. But I would call it kidnapping,” Rathee said.The claims come as protests continue in Delhi and across the country against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over concerns regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and voting rights, in general. On Saturday, the administration in Delhi took unprecedented measures from deploying heavy security to barricading several corners of central Delhi to imposing traffic curbs and banning internet and halting Metro and railway services and the detention of several protesters, in order to ensure that the planned protests against Gyanesh Kumar do not happen.Also read: The BJP Govt Has Lost Its Sleep. It is Haunted by the Ghosts of DissentHe asked, “Have you ever heard such a thing happening in a democratic country where an ordinary citizen who has not broken any laws, who just raised his voice for the betterment of the country, simply demand a better Election Commission is dragged and kidnapped from his bedroom.”Rathee alleged that his parents were physically roughed up during the police’s visit at his residence. Calling the episode an attack on democratic rights, he accused the Modi government of descending the country into a “dictatorship” and running an “unofficial Emergency”.“I heard that CJP leaders, opposition leaders and around 7,000 people were detained. These things used to happen during the Emergency and it happens in North Korea. It is now happening in our country. You will have to think friends if you want to see this country like this where you are not able to even raise your voice for your rights. People who don’t like me are happy that it’s happening with me. When dictatorship begins, it can happen with anyone tomorrow. Just think about it,” Rathee said.Rathee claimed that he is being continuously monitored and is on an “unofficial house arrest”.“I want to tell Narendra Modi that don’t scare someone so much that all the fear vanishes. The m0re you try to repress, the louder the voices of protests will rise. Try to read History and see what was the end, whenever a person tried to become a dictator – of Hitler, of Mussolini – try to introspect a bit, a dictator’s end is never good,” he said adding that he will continue to raise his voice for the country.Meanwhile, members of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) took to social media after being released from detention on Sunday. They attacked the government and repeated their demand that Gyanesh Kumar resign.CJP founder and national convenor Abhijeet Dipke wrote on X, “Modi, as PM, is an embarrassment to India. Never has this country seen a bigger coward and bully”.Modi, as PM, is an embarrassment to India.Never has this country seen a bigger coward and bully.— Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) October 11, 2026Similarly, co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka wrote, “Gyanesh Kumar is a traitor. He will have to resign. I am even willing to spend my entire life in jail to get such traitors removed”.While co-convenor Saurav Das said, “After Modi-Shah turned Delhi into a fortress and unleashed what can only be described as a war against their own citizens, one thing has become abundantly clear: Gyanesh Kumar is at the very heart of this government’s survival. The unprecedented use of force, intimidation and threats against citizens simply exercising their democratic rights has exposed the government completely. But we the young generation will continue to demand accountability. We shall neither be intimidated nor silenced. We are not backing down. We are returning with full strength!”After Modi-Shah turned Delhi into a fortress and unleashed what can only be described as a war against their own citizens, one thing has become abundantly clear: Gyanesh Kumar is at the very heart of this government’s survival.The unprecedented use of force, intimidation and threats against citizens simply exercising their democratic rights has exposed the government completely.But we the young generation will continue to demand accountability. We shall neither be intimidated nor silenced.We are not backing down. We are returning with full strength!#GyanuItsDoneBro@Cockroachisback— Saurav Das (@SauravDassss) October 11, 2026