YouTuber Dhruv Rathee said on Wednesday that plainclothes police personnel in unmarked cars were following his vehicle, four days after his release from Delhi Police detention.
In a video posted on X, Rathee claimed that the police were tracking his movements and threatening to detain him again if he approached the protest site ahead of a proposed demonstration against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on October 16.
In the video, Rathee, 32, claimed that several cars followed his own after he left his Gurugram home this evening.
“We have just stepped out of the house, and I’m in the car. I want to show you how these people are following me and how the Delhi Police is not leaving us alone,” he said in the video, then turned the camera and pointed to a couple of cars he claimed were tailing him.
The cars had no police markings, though one had a siren on its roof.
The YouTuber then confronted the driver of one of the vehicles with a siren, slowing down his car to speak to him, before the driver sped off.
Rathee said: “I am just trying to figure out how many people are trailing me. Is it 20 or 50 or 100, all behind just one guy.”
He has questioned the Delhi Police over the alleged use of taxpayer money for surveillance on him.
In the post on X, Rathee tagged the Delhi Police and asked it to provide an estimate of the public money being spent on what he called “illegal surveillance” against him.
His remarks come after the Delhi Police detained him from his residence on October 10.
Fresh summons to Rathee in 2018 defamation case
A Delhi court on Wednesday issued fresh summons against Rathee in a 2018 defamation case, noting that he has been living in Austria for the last seven years and has come to India for the protests underway in the national capital.
Judicial magistrate Rahul Jain was hearing the plea filed by BJP IT Cell member Vikas Pandey seeking a fresh summons to Rathee.
In an order dated October 12, the court said, "From the available record, it is clear that the complainant has been trying to serve the accused no. 1 (Rathee) since the last several years..."
Appearing for the complainant, Advocate Samaksh Sharma submitted before the court that Rathee resides in Austria and has come to India for the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protests in Delhi.
He submitted that issuance of a fresh summons is necessary, so that prompt steps for service can be taken.
The judge noted that Rathee was summoned by the court initially in July 2019.
The court directed that fresh summons be issued to Rathee at his address in Gurugram, Haryana.
The case pertains to a defamation suit filed by the BJP IT cell member Vikas Pandey in 2018 after Rathee uploaded a video on his YouTube channel against him.