GUWAHATI: The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has claimed that its founder Abhijeet Dipke, along with Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, was detained at Delhi airport on Saturday, October 10, ahead of the party's planned protest at Jantar Mantar against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
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Dipke went live on Instagram as police personnel entered the aircraft and detained him. The video showed a commotion inside the flight, with CJP members questioning the police over their decision to detain them before they could deboard.
“You could have waited till we came out. Come arrest us, we are not afraid,” Dipke was heard telling the women police personnel who boarded the plane.
Dipke had left Mumbai for Delhi earlier in the morning to lead the protest demanding Kumar's resignation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The reported detentions came amid heightened security arrangements across the national capital, with more than 40,000 Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Forces personnel deployed. Barricades and spike strips were also installed at several locations ahead of the planned demonstration.
Earlier in the morning, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee and CJP legal affairs head Ratna Singh were also detained, according to reports, as authorities sought to prevent them from joining the protest.
Delhi Police had also detained more than 400 people suspected of being protesters from different parts of the capital overnight, according to reports.
The CJP has been demanding Kumar's resignation over alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise. The party has continued to raise the issue through protests and public statements, including a demonstration in Mumbai on October 2.
The latest demonstration was planned at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. However, Delhi Police denied permission, stating that the organisers had not followed the required procedure and citing public safety and law-and-order concerns.
The controversy surrounding the Election Commission's handling of the SIR exercise intensified following an investigative report by The Indian Express. The report stated that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and procedures linked to the exercise.
The Election Commission has rejected the allegations, maintaining that major decisions, including the SIR of electoral rolls, were taken unanimously by the full commission.
