Thousands of people led by Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad took part in a protest near Jama Masjid on Friday against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) despite the police not giving permission for the demonstration.

Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad told PTI that he sneaked into the Jama Masjid around 1:30 pm, wearing a skull cap and wrapping himself in a long shawl to hide his identity.

Mr Azad, who had announced that he would carry out a march from Jama Masjid to Jantar Mantar for which police denied permission, was detained but give them a slip amid people resisted him being taken away. Some eye-witnesses said, he moved from house to house and even jumped some terraces to leave Jama Masjid area, Mr Azad was detained again from Daryaganj where he was leading a march.

Chandrashekhar Azad said, “we have to make sacrifices so that the legislation is taken back. We do not support violence. We were sitting inside the mosque since Friday morning and our people were not involved in violence.”

Many protesters were carrying posters of Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Kanshi Ram and Bhagat Singh.

Senior police officers were persuading him to come outside the mosque since last evening. The drama continued for several hours and Aazad finally agreed around 3.15am on Saturday.