Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke in Delhi on Friday, hours before his proposed ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ march at Connaught Place, after serving him a notice prohibiting him from holding the protest.
Dipke stepped out of the Karol Bagh residence of Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) spokesperson Anish Gawande at around 4.50 pm. Five minutes later, two inspectors and around a dozen police personnel stopped him as he walked towards the road. Police officers and media personnel had been stationed outside the house.
While speaking to television crews, Dipke asked police why he was being stopped, saying he was alone. He then took out and unfurled the Tricolour before police personnel pushed him into a police van and took him away, according to the report.
Police sources said Dipke was taken to Jaffarpur Kalan police station, where he could be placed under preventive detention for 24 hours. The report did not specify the legal provision used for the notice or detention.
Earlier in the afternoon, a live video posted on the CJP’s Instagram page showed Dipke questioning a police officer who had come to serve him the notice. Dipke said the group had not announced a protest but only planned to wave the national flag, and asked whether that too was prohibited.
The proposed march followed the arrest of two senior CJP members, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, who were sent to Tihar Jail after allegedly breaching security and entering Jantar Mantar on Monday, where they waved the national flag. Dipke had arrived in Delhi on Wednesday following those arrests.
On Thursday night, Dipke alleged that police and intelligence officials had been deployed around Gawande’s residence and that he could be detained. At a media briefing, he questioned the deployment of forces and said the CJP intended to peacefully unfurl the national flag at Connaught Place.
Dipke also alleged that intelligence personnel had been following the group and compared the situation to the Emergency. These claims were made by Dipke and were not independently established in the report.
The incident places Connaught Place, one of Delhi’s busiest public and commercial areas, at the centre of a dispute over the policing of planned assemblies and public demonstrations. The immediate police action came before the proposed march, while the report did not state whether the event went ahead or identify any further police order governing access to the area.
