Popular Indian YouTuber Dhruv Rathee has alleged that he was “kidnapped” from his home by people in plain clothes and kept confined for nearly 22 to 23 hours without access to his phone or lawyer, saying he has now been placed under unofficial house arrest.
In a video posted on his X profile on Sunday, Rathee said around 20 people entered his family home on the morning of October 10 while he was asleep, dragged him out of his bedroom and took him away without any explanation.
He also alleged that the people who took him seized his phone and those of his parents, and that he was denied access to a lawyer and a phone while being held at police stations.
Rathee rejected media allegations that he held a foreign passport and had been detained for participating in protests, insisting that he was an Indian citizen entitled to the same rights as any other citizen.
Describing the incident as a kidnapping rather than a lawful arrest or detention, he said the people who entered his home did not identify themselves or explain the legal provisions under which they were taking him away.
“I am using the word ‘kidnap’ here because this was not an arrest. This was not detention,” he said in the video.
Rathee also alleged that he sustained injuries while being dragged out of his bedroom and taken down the stairs. He said he was not even given the opportunity to put on his slippers before being placed in a jeep.
He further claimed that more than 50 people were present outside his home at the time.
Rathee said he was eventually released but alleged that at least 15 people had been stationed around him to monitor his movements, preventing him from leaving his home freely.
“They have almost put me under unofficial house arrest,” he said.
He criticised the government, describing the incident as evidence of an “unofficial Emergency” and alleging that India was being turned into a dictatorship.
Addressing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the YouTuber said, “Do not frighten anyone so much that all fear disappears. How much will you keep suppressing people? The more you suppress them, the louder people’s voices will emerge. Read a little history and see. Whenever someone has tried to become a dictator, how did it end for them? Look at Hitler and Mussolini. Introspect a little. In a dictatorship, the dictator’s end is not good either.”
Rathee had been detained on Saturday ahead of the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.
According to officials, Rathee was released at 3am on Sunday and handed over to his family. He had been apprehended from his residence in Kendriya Vihar society in Sector 56, Gurugram, at around 7:30am on Saturday.
“He can be detained again, or further legal action might be taken if he tries to go to Jantar Mantar despite prohibitory orders,” an unnamed police officer was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
First of all, I want to make one thing clear. This is my passport. I am an Indian citizen, and will remain one.
So, the rumours being spread by the media, the justifications they are giving for my detention and arrest, that I was a foreign passport holder and was not participating in the protest, are outright lies. I am an Indian citizen, and I have the same rights as any ordinary citizen.
The second thing is, what did they do to me yesterday? On the morning of 10 October, at around 7:00 am, I was sleeping in my bedroom, and my mother got up in the morning and opened the door because quite a lot of people were roaming around outside. They were not police officers, but people in plain clothes, and suddenly, around 20 people pushed her aside and barged into the house. She screamed, and suddenly, they came straight inside the house. They spread out in all directions and came straight into my bedroom, and I still had not woken up. As soon as the bedroom door opened, I woke up and saw what was happening there. How had so many people suddenly come into the bedroom? And before I could react to anything...
These people literally kidnapped me and took me away. I am using the word ‘kidnap’ here because this was not an arrest. This was not detention. Detention would be if I went to the protest and was protesting there. Then the police would be detaining me. That is a different thing. An arrest would be if a police officer came, showed his uniform, showed his nameplate, arrested me and told me, ‘Look, these are the sections. These are the legal provisions. Come with us to the police station.’ I would have happily gone along, but none of this happened.
These people literally sent goons and kidnapped me from my own house while I was sleeping. At that time, there was no one else in my house. My father was there, my mother was there, and I was there. There were only three of us in the house. And later, I found out that more than 50 people were standing outside. There were more than 50 goons of theirs. Call them police officers, call them people from one of their agencies, call them whatever you want.
And when they came inside and I woke up, obviously, I asked, ‘Who are you? What are you?’ They did not give me a chance to say anything. They dragged me away directly. I mean, just imagine how a criminal is taken away. They dragged me out of my bedroom. They took me down the stairs. I have also suffered quite a few injuries. I have injuries like these all over my body. And after that, they did not even give me a chance to put on my slippers. They picked me up just as I was and locked me inside a jeep. They immediately drove off in their jeep and took me to one police station, then another police station. And during all this, there is no video of it either because, I mean, my phone was lying beside me. These people immediately snatched it away. They snatched my parents’ phones, and after that, when I reached the police station...
Then I said, ‘Let me meet my lawyer.’ They said that they would not let me meet any lawyer. They would not let me access any phone. So, they made me sit there for nearly 22 to 23 hours. They kept me imprisoned at that place, and they kept saying, ‘No, no, this is not an arrest. This is not detention. Do not worry, you will be released.’ But basically, I will use the word ‘kidnap’: they kidnapped me and kept me there for 22 to 23 hours. They did not let me access my phone, did not let me speak to a lawyer, or do anything at all.
For this, I would like to ask you a question. Have you ever heard of anything like this happening in any democratic country, where an ordinary citizen who has not broken any law, who has merely raised their voice for the truth, raised their voice in the interest of the country, and demanded a better Election Commission, is taken away after people enter their house and go into their bedroom? They kidnap him. His parents are beaten up. They are physically assaulted. And then he is taken away in this manner.
This does not happen in any democratic country. Narendra Modi has turned this country into a dictatorship. This is, in a direct sense, an unofficial Emergency.
Later, I heard the news that Abhijit, Saurabh Das and Ashutosh had also been detained in the same way, right from an aeroplane. More than 7,000 people were detained. All the political leaders were detained. These are things that used to happen during the Emergency, and such things happen in North Korea. Now they are happening in our country.
You people will have to think, friends: is this the kind of country you want to see, where you are not even given the opportunity to raise your voice?
Those people who were expressing happiness, those who do not like me, some of them were feeling a little happy that, look, this is happening to me. When a dictatorship comes, think a little about yourselves. If this can happen to me, then it can happen to you tomorrow as well. Think about it a little.
For now, I am fine. I am in good condition. But these people have left at least 15 people stationed all around me who are keeping me under surveillance from all sides. They are watching my every move. So that I cannot leave the house. They have almost put me under unofficial house arrest.
And I would like to say to Narendra Modi: Do not frighten anyone so much that all fear disappears. How much will you keep suppressing people? The more you suppress them, the louder, the more forcefully, people’s voices will emerge.
Read a little history and see. Whenever someone has tried to become a dictator, how did it end for them? Look at Hitler and Mussolini. Introspect a little. In a dictatorship, the dictator’s end is not good either.