Ahead of a planned protest at Jantar Mantar against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Delhi Police detained several leaders and supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), including Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, from a flight after it landed at Delhi Airport.
CJP legal team head Ratna Singh, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee and over 400 other people were also detained, according to the party.
Rathee, who recently arrived in India to participate in the CJP protest, was detained by Delhi Police from his Gurugram residence around 7:45 am today. Around 50 police personnel had reportedly gathered outside his residence late last night.
Police have not granted permission for the protest, and authorities have taken several steps to maintain law and order. Entry and exit gates at 45 Delhi Metro stations, including Rajiv Chowk, New Delhi, Central Secretariat, Patel Chowk and Kashmere Gate, will remain closed. Over 250 trains from other states, along with local trains, scheduled to arrive at New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin stations between 4 am and 2 pm on Saturday, have been cancelled. Internet services have also been suspended within a 4-km radius of the Janpath-Kartavya Path crossing for 24 hours.
In a statement, the CJP condemned the detention of Dipke, Das and Ranka from the flight upon landing in Delhi.
“This pre-planned interception by the Delhi Police aims to cripple the leadership of today’s peaceful demonstrations before they even reach the protest site. The CJP denounces this blatant violation of freedom of movement and demands the immediate, unconditional release of Dipke, Das and Ranka,” it said.
