Abhijeet Dipke In Custody, CJP Turns To 'Plan B' For Delhi March

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke was detained by the Delhi Police on Friday as he left to participate in the party’s proposed ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ march at Connaught Place. The detention came amid heavy security and restrictions on gatherings, with the party saying it had prepared a contingency plan in case its convenor was prevented from reaching the venue.

According to PTI, more than 20 Delhi Police personnel visited Dipke earlier in the day and served him a notice directing him to refrain from any action that could prejudice the rights of citizens, traders, commuters, patients and others. Police sources said he was detained from his residence while leaving to participate in the proposed protest.

ANI reported that Dipke was detained while leaving the residence of NCP-SP spokesperson Anish Gawande. A police official told him, “We are placing you under preventive detention. Section 163 is in force in Connaught Place. You are being detained...”

Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) was in force in Connaught Place, while the New Delhi Municipal Council had announced that Central Park would remain closed to the public on October 16 and 17. India Today also reported that the police were considering an alternative arrangement to allow 11 people to carry the national flag and sing the national anthem at a suitable location.

The CJP had anticipated the possibility of Dipke being detained or prevented from reaching the venue. Minutes before his detention, the party told India Today Digital that it had prepared a contingency plan similar to the arrangements made during its October 10 protest.

“If Abhijeet Dipke is detained by the Delhi Police, we will announce our alternative plan,” CJP media team official Vijay M told India Today Digital.

Vijay said the alternative plan would also be activated if police attempted to prevent Dipke from reaching Connaught Place without formally detaining him. At the time, he said the organisation had no information about Dipke being detained and that the convenor was making every effort to reach the venue.

The CJP also asked protesters to enter Connaught Place in groups of fewer than five people, take pictures with the national flag and upload them on social media after leaving the area. The instructions came as the police restricted access to Central Park, where the party had planned to hold its march.

Delhi Police fortified Connaught Place’s Inner Circle with barricades and parked buses to prevent protesters from entering Central Park. India Today reported that personnel from the Delhi Police, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Rapid Action Force (RAF) were deployed in and around the park. Small groups of protesters were seen near Central Park, where police personnel asked them to disperse. Senior RAF officers patrolling the area declined to comment on special arrangements, saying Delhi Police was overseeing security.

Dipke’s detention also left the CJP without its three known faces, putting its leadership and contingency arrangements to the test. CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka had earlier been sent to judicial custody. During its October 10 protest, the CJP had also prepared contingency arrangements in case its leaders were detained, according to India Today.

The CJP’s planned march was among the demonstrations called in Delhi amid opposition to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and demands for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Separately, the All India Students’ Association (AISA) called for a protest at Mandi House metro station at 5.15 pm on Friday. Its demands included Kumar’s resignation, the rollback of the SIR exercise and the repeal of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023.