The UN human rights office urged India on October 10 to release people arbitrarily detained during protests in Delhi.

It said that it was concerned by reports of mass detentions.

Those named included protest leaders, lawyers and journalists.

A senior ruling-party figure said that the protests served foreign forces.

Police have not commented.

Hundreds of protesters were detained as security forces stopped the Cockroach Janta Party, or CJP, from reaching Jantar Mantar, according to PTI.

Al Jazeera reported that more than 1,000 people were detained, and live blogs carried higher figures such as 5,000 and 7,000, which could not be confirmed.

The CJP is a Gen Z-led, satirical and unregistered movement that demands electoral reforms and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

It alleges manipulation of voter lists during the Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, of electoral rolls.

The Election Commission describes the revision as routine and denies political interference, according to PTI.

The BJP also denies the allegations.

Delhi Police had refused permission for the protest, and the force has not publicly commented on the detentions, according to PTI.

BJP president Nitin Nabin criticised the protests, saying that opposition groups were acting at the behest of foreign forces and trying to destabilise the country, according to PTI.

Nabin said that Indian democracy was strong enough to resist such efforts.

Amnesty International India said that those detained solely for exercising free expression and peaceful assembly should be released immediately and unconditionally, according to Al Jazeera.

The Committee to Protect Journalists urged Delhi Police to free detained journalists and to allow press coverage, according to the same report.

The reports available on October 10 did not carry a government response to the UN statement.

The UN human rights office said on Saturday, October 10, 2026, that it was concerned by reports of mass detentions in India of demonstrators, protest leaders, members of civil society organisations, lawyers and journalists.

Palais des Nations, Geneva (file image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0