CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke detained from flight in Delhi ahead of Jantar Mantar protest

Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke and party members Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka from inside an aircraft after it landed in the national capital on Saturday, October 10 ahead of the party’s planned protest at Jantar Mantar against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Dipke, who was travelling from Mumbai to Delhi to lead the demonstration, livestreamed the incident on Instagram. The video showed police personnel entering the aircraft and confronting the CJP members, who questioned why they were being detained before being allowed to disembark.

“You could have waited till we came out. Come arrest us, we are not afraid,” Dipke was heard telling the women police personnel in the video.

The detention came amid a wider police operation ahead of the proposed demonstration. The CJP alleged that the action was intended to prevent its leadership from reaching the protest venue and condemned what it described as the “authoritarian detention” of Dipke, Das and Ranka.

In a statement, the party alleged that the police had intercepted its members as part of a pre-planned move to disrupt the demonstration before it could begin. It demanded their immediate and unconditional release, describing the action as a violation of freedom of movement.

Earlier on Saturday, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee and Ratna Singh, head of the CJP’s legal cell, were also detained at their residences, according to the information provided by the party.
Delhi Police had denied permission for the planned protest on Friday, citing the failure to seek approval sufficiently in advance.
The proposed demonstration prompted heightened security measures across the national capital. Police detained more than 400 people suspected of planning to participate in protests at different locations overnight, according to the report.
The city also witnessed restrictions on public transport, with 45 Metro stations reportedly shut and several train services cancelled amid preparations to manage the anticipated mobilisation. More than 20,000 personnel from the Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Forces were deployed to maintain law and order.
The circumstances surrounding the detentions, including whether the three CJP members were formally arrested or taken into preventive custody, were not independently established in the information available.