Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi
New Delhi, Oct 10: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke and party leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained by Delhi police on Saturday after arriving at Indira Gandhi International Airport ahead of the party’s proposed protest at Jantar Mantar. YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was also detained in Gurugram ahead of the demonstration.
The CJP leaders had travelled from Mumbai to Delhi to participate in the protest, dubbed ‘Jantar Mantar 2.0’, demanding the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and changes concerning Form 6, which is used for voter registration.
Police personnel entered the aircraft carrying the three leaders shortly after it landed at the airport. Dipke went live on Instagram as officers approached them. In the video, he was heard challenging the police to arrest him, saying he had come to Delhi prepared to face arrest. Police personnel, however, told him that it was not an arrest and asked him to cooperate.
The CJP condemned the detentions, alleging that they were part of a pre-planned move to prevent its leaders from reaching the protest venue. The party demanded their immediate and unconditional release, describing the action as a violation of their freedom of movement.
Rathee was detained by Gurugram police from Sector 56 in Gurugram on Saturday morning. According to reports quoting a police officer, the police had attempted to persuade him not to attend the protest, citing prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) in Delhi and the absence of permission for the demonstration. Rathee had publicly questioned the extensive security restrictions imposed ahead of the protest and indicated that he intended to attend.
The detentions came amid heightened security across the national capital. Police had detained around 200 people who were attempting to reach Jantar Mantar for the proposed demonstration. Police sources also said that more than 600 people with criminal records had been detained across Delhi’s 15 districts as part of preventive measures ahead of the protest.
Heavy police deployment, barricades and surveillance were put in place at several locations, with drones being used to monitor the movement of people attempting to reach the protest site. Traffic restrictions and diversions came into effect from 6 am on Saturday, causing congestion and slow-moving traffic in parts of central Delhi.
Ahead of the demonstration, the CJP issued an advisory asking participants to maintain peace, avoid violence, respect barricades and not attempt to enter restricted areas.
The party’s proposed protest was aimed at seeking Kumar’s resignation over allegations relating to the SIR exercise and the handling of voter registration procedures. The allegations remain claims raised by the protesters.