Three leaders of the Cockroach Janata Party were released from the Delhi Cantonment Police Station on Sunday morning after spending more than 24 hours in preventive custody over a proposed protest march to Jantar Mantar, according to a Delhi Police statement reported by The Indian Express.
Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das were released on the orders of the Executive Magistrate Court after being produced before the Sub-Divisional Executive Magistrate, or SEM Court, in Delhi Cantonment. They left the police station in an SUV at about 10.15 am, amid a heavy police deployment outside the premises.
The Delhi Police said the three leaders had been placed under preventive arrest under Sections 126 and 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, or BNSS, on October 10. The police statement said all required legal procedures had been followed before the leaders were produced before the court on October 11.
According to the statement, each leader was released after furnishing a bail bond and surety bond of Rs 50,000 for maintaining peace and good behaviour for one year. The release order was issued by the SEM Court, and members of the CJP’s legal team were present during the process.
The leaders had arrived in Delhi to organise a sit-in at Jantar Mantar demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The Delhi Police had denied permission for the demonstration, citing prohibitory orders imposed under Section 163 of the BNSS in the New Delhi area.
Dipke, Ranka and Das were detained at the Indira Gandhi International Airport shortly after arriving on a flight from Mumbai on Saturday morning. Delhi Police personnel took them to different police stations, where they were held for around 24 hours before being brought before the magistrate.
A police officer cited in the report said Section 126 allows a magistrate to require a person to execute a bond for maintaining peace, while Section 170 empowers the police to make preventive arrests. The provisions replace Sections 107 and 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, respectively.
The detention formed part of a wider security operation in central Delhi on Saturday. The police said around 7,000 people who allegedly attempted to march towards Jantar Mantar were detained. The force also said some of its personnel were injured while controlling the crowd.
Security was tightened across central Delhi, with around 30,000 personnel deployed and multiple layers of barricades placed in the area. The CJP, which had called for another protest march to Jantar Mantar on Sunday, said it would hold a press conference at 2 pm after the leaders’ release.
