Gurugram: Gurugram Police on Sunday released Germany-based YouTuber Dhruv Rathee nearly 18 hours after detaining him from his Sector 56 residence for allegedly planning to protest irregularities in electoral rolls at Jantar Mantar, where prohibitory orders were enforced, an officer said.
Police said the 32-year-old social media activist was kept under watch at one of the offices of the crime branch in Gurugram, from where he was handed over to his family members around 3 am on Sunday. Police said that he was detained under Section 172(2) (detain or remove any person who resists, refuses, ignores, or disregards a lawful direction) of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. The officer said that around 7 am on Saturday, a Delhi police team reached his residence at Kendriya Vihar in Sector 56 and urged him not to travel to Delhi to take part in the protest. The officer said that, as he allegedly refused to abide, Gurugram police detained him around 9.30 am.
“He was released after discussion with Delhi police, and it was ensured that he won’t be a part of a group or mob trying to create law and order problems where prohibitory orders were already in force,” the officer said. The Delhi police also alerted Gurugram counterparts, who too reached his residence to persuade him to avoid travelling to Jantar Mantar, the officer said.
“Yes, he has been set free.
His family members arrived to receive him at a crime branch office where he was kept detained, ” said a senior officer.
