On 10 October, the actor participated in the protest called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) – a wider GenZ-led movement that has been holding demonstrations for days seeking electoral reforms and the resignation of India’s top election official over allegations of vote fraud. India’s poll panel denies these charges.
“Imran Khan had participated in the agitation despite not being an Indian citizen,” police said in their statement.
The complaint against Khan was lodged by Kirit Somaiya, a leader of India’s and the state’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who accused the actor of being “involved in a conspiracy to spread anarchy in India”.
Khan did not address Somaiya’s allegation directly, but had spoken to reporters about his participation in the protest.
“I don’t have demands. I’m here as a citizen, as a person who lives in this city. I’m here to see why freedom of movement is being restricted, why people’s voices are being suppressed,” he’d said.
He added that he was not at the protest as the representative of any organisation.
Following the protest, Khan was briefly detained by the police along with other protesters.
He posted a photo of himself inside the police detention van on Instagram with the caption, “Apparently I’m going for a drive.” The post received more than two million likes on the social media platform.
Over the weekend, thousands of protesters had marched in Delhi, Mumbai and other parts of India, demanding the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar ahead of crucial state elections in response to the CJP’s call.
On Monday, leaders of many of India’s main opposition parties, including Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, led thousands of protesters in a march from Connaught Place to the Supreme Court in Delhi.
On Wednesday, two top CJP leaders were sent to jail for five days after being arrested for allegedly trespassing at a protest site in Delhi.
The CJP has called for another protest on Friday evening in the capital.
