Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) national coordinator Abhijeet Dipke and co-organisers Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das after their flight from Mumbai landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on Saturday, according to a report by Live Hindustan – NCR. The leaders were travelling to the capital for a planned demonstration at Jantar Mantar against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The report said police officers and personnel entered the aircraft after it landed and took the three leaders into custody before they could leave the plane. Dipke was quoted as saying, “I have come to be arrested; you can arrest me.” The report also said he folded his hands and asked for some time while attempting to send a message from his phone.
The detention followed a protest held in Bengaluru on 8 October, after which Dipke, Ranka and Das travelled to Mumbai. They took a flight to Delhi on Saturday morning. The CJP leaders were among several members of the organisation taken into custody ahead of the planned demonstration.
CJP legal head Ratna Singh was also detained before the protest, the report said. In a separate action, Germany-based YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was reportedly taken into custody from his home in Gurugram. The report did not provide details of the legal provisions under which the individuals were detained or specify where they were taken.
The organisation had announced a demonstration at Jantar Mantar against Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. Its stated demands included Kumar’s resignation, registration of a criminal case against him, a halt to the SIR process and changes to the appointment system for election commissioners. The organisation also sought the inclusion of civil society representatives in the appointment process.
Security arrangements across Delhi had been tightened from Friday, with Delhi and Uttar Pradesh Police personnel and central forces deployed for law-and-order duties, according to the report. Police presence was increased at Delhi’s borders, and hundreds of protesters were detained in different parts of the capital before they could reach the demonstration site.
The reported action places the focus on how Delhi authorities manage planned political gatherings at designated protest locations, particularly when organisers and participants travel into the city from other states. The supplied report did not include a Delhi Police statement on the detentions, the total number of people held or whether the planned demonstration took place. It also did not state whether those detained were later released or produced before a court.
