A protest called by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) in Connaught Place on Friday remained confined to the inner circle after police detained party chief Abhijeet Dipke and All India Students’ Association (AISA) national president Neha Bora. The episode affected access to one of New Delhi’s busiest public and commercial districts, while the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) had already closed Central Park ahead of the march.
According to a report by Jagran, around 200 to 250 young people gathered in Connaught Place after Dipke was detained before the planned ‘Lahra Do Tiranga’ march. Police allowed the group to reach the inner circle but did not permit them to move beyond it. The protesters reportedly walked around within the inner circle instead of proceeding through the wider Connaught Place area.
Dipke was taken into custody after police visited the Jhandewalan residence of Nationalist Congress Party leader Anish Gawande, where he had been staying. Police reportedly served him a notice in the morning and kept him there under what the report described as a form of house detention. When Dipke later left to attend the protest, police detained him.
Bora was also detained during the protest. The gathering included YouTubers, according to the report, while the number of participants declined as darkness set in. Jagran reported that the crowd did not expand significantly and that protesters remained within the inner circle for the duration of the attempted march.
The police response differed from the arrangements during an earlier CJP protest announced for 10 October at Jantar Mantar. On that occasion, heavy security deployment, the closure of metro stations and restrictions on rail services reportedly prevented people from reaching the protest site. Dipke, along with fellow CJP members Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, was detained before that demonstration.
On Friday, people were allowed to enter the inner circle despite the security deployment. However, police restricted their movement once the limited size of the gathering became clear. The account indicates a shift from preventing access to the protest location to allowing controlled access within a defined area.
The incident also comes amid ongoing legal action involving CJP members. Das and Ranka are currently in Tihar Jail in a case involving alleged violations of bail conditions, according to the report. Jagran also reported that police were preparing to register another case against Dipke for breach of peace and that he could face arrest over an alleged violation of his bail bond.
The events place Connaught Place’s public-space management at the centre of the latest protest. The district combines pedestrian areas, retail and office activity, transport access and Central Park, making restrictions there relevant not only to demonstrators but also to commuters, workers, visitors and businesses. The next legal and police actions concerning Dipke, Das and Ranka will determine how the CJP’s planned demonstrations proceed.
