YouTuber Dhruv Rathee said on 11 October 2026 that he "was not arrested or detained" but "KIDNAPPED" during the crackdown on the 10 October protest in Delhi. Police have not said whether they held him, on what basis or where, so his account can neither be confirmed nor ruled out.
Claim: Dhruv Rathee was kidnapped, not lawfully arrested or detained.
Said by: Dhruv Rathee, on X, 11 October 2026. Arvind Kejriwal shared the post.
What the record shows: The CJP said about 50 police in civilian clothes came to his house on the morning of 10 October. Police have not confirmed a detention, a release or the legal basis for either. No independent account of how he was held has been published.
Where the claim came from
Claim · CJP At about 9:30 am on 10 October the Cockroach Janta Party said on X: "Around 8 AM, approximately 50 police personnel in civilian attire arrived at Dhruv Rathee's house." Police did not confirm a detention. ETV Bharat
That night Arvind Kejriwal asked on X where police were holding Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka, Dhruv Rathee and Saurav Das. Police did not say. Arvind Kejriwal
On 11 October, after his release, Rathee posted: "I was not arrested or detained, I was KIDNAPPED." Kejriwal shared it with a comment in Hindi saying no one was afraid of the government's threats any more. Kejriwal on X, quoting Rathee ETV Bharat reported the remark under the headline "Kidnapped, not detained". ETV Bharat
What the evidence shows
Police position On 11 October Delhi Police said Dipke, Ranka and Das were placed under "preventive arrest" under sections 126/170 of the BNSS, that due procedure was followed and that they were produced before a Special Executive Magistrate and released on bonds. Delhi Police That statement does not mention Rathee. We found no police statement about him at all.
Gap in the record "Kidnapped" is Rathee's description, and it carries a legal meaning: being taken without lawful authority. Testing it needs facts that are not public: who picked him up, whether they identified themselves, whether any detention was recorded, and how long he was held. Rathee has not set these out in the post, and police have not answered.
His complaint matches others made that weekend. Former Attorney General KK Venugopal told the Supreme Court on 11 October that a former junior of his was "arbitrarily lifted by the Delhi Police and dumped 11 kilometres away without any explanation", by personnel without badges. Bar and Bench That is a separate case and does not prove Rathee's.
Context
The same day the Supreme Court ordered that no illegal detention of people gathering peacefully can take place, and that peaceful, unarmed protesters cannot be detained except by "procedure established by law". LiveLaw Hindustan Times
Rathee has been the subject of other claims during the CJP protests; see the related checks below. The full record is on our Jantar Mantar 10 October page.
Questions people ask
Was Dhruv Rathee arrested?
Rathee says he was not arrested or detained but kidnapped. Police have not said whether they held him or on what basis.
Has Dhruv Rathee been released?
Yes. He posted after his release on 11 October, and ETV Bharat reported his remarks after he was freed.
What did police say about Dhruv Rathee?
Nothing that we could find. Their 11 October statement covered only Dipke, Ranka and Das.
Sources
- Arvind Kejriwal on X, quoting Dhruv Rathee: "I was KIDNAPPED", 11 Oct 2026
- ETV Bharat: Kidnapped, not detained, says Dhruv Rathee after being released, 11 Oct 2026
- ETV Bharat: CJP protest live updates, 10 Oct 2026
- Arvind Kejriwal on X: where are CJP leaders held?, 10 Oct 2026
- Delhi Police on X: preventive arrest of Dipke, Ranka, Das, 11 Oct 2026
- Bar and Bench: KK Venugopal tells Supreme Court his former junior was taken away, 11 Oct 2026
- LiveLaw on X: Supreme Court orders no illegal detention, 11 Oct 2026
- Hindustan Times: SC's 5 big directives on Delhi curbs, 11 Oct 2026
