Delhi protests were disrupted on Saturday after police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke and senior colleagues Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka at Indira Gandhi International Airport, while prohibitory orders were imposed in Central Delhi ahead of a planned gathering at Jantar Mantar.
The three men had arrived from Mumbai on a flight that landed around 10.20 am. Police entered the aircraft shortly after it arrived and took them to an undisclosed location, according to the Indian Express report. Police sources said the men were being held separately.
In a 20-second video released after the detentions, Dipke said that he, Das and Ranka had been arrested and announced that Ajinkya Shinde would lead the movement. The report said the video appeared to have been recorded while Dipke was in detention, although sources suggested it may have been pre-recorded. The CJP’s response to that claim was awaited.
Shinde, the party’s national organisation in-charge, subsequently called for the protests to continue. A computer science graduate from Alibaug in Maharashtra, he previously worked for a Pune-based information technology company and was associated with the Aam Aadmi Party after the anti-corruption movement led by Arvind Kejriwal. He later joined the CJP and participated in its protests in Delhi during June and July over the NEET examination paper leak.
The CJP had called a protest at Jantar Mantar against the Special Intensive Revision and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. In a video message, Shinde alleged that the central government had detained CJP leaders and obstructed people attempting to reach Delhi. His remarks were political allegations and were not independently established in the supplied report.
More than 2,000 people were reportedly detained in Central Delhi during the morning while attempting to march towards Jantar Mantar, according to the report. The figure was presented as a report-based estimate and no independent confirmation was provided in the supplied material.
Delhi Police said prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita had been imposed in Central Delhi and that permission had not been granted for protests anywhere in the area. The restrictions shaped access to one of the capital’s designated protest venues, while police action at the airport and across Central Delhi affected the movement of organisers and participants. No further official details about the duration of the restrictions or the legal status of the detained leaders were provided in the supplied report.
