Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke and spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained seconds after landing in Delhi on Saturday, with videos posted by the outfit showing cops entering the aircraft before passengers began deboarding.
Dipke, Das and Ranka had travelled to Delhi to participate in the protest proposed by the CJP at Jantar Mantar against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the special intensive revision exercise.
A senior Delhi police official confirmed the detentions, saying teams from the southwest district police had been deployed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. In its statement, the CJP “strongly condemned” the detentions as “authoritarian”, terming it a “violation of freedom of movement.” CJP's legal affairs head Ratna Singh was also detained earlier on Saturday.
Video shows Dipke, others chanting ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ as cops enter plane
One of the videos posted on the CJP's official X handle showed cops entering the plane through the staircase passage, even as Dipke said that the police was “coming to pick up” the CJP leaders.
{{/usCountry}}One of the videos posted on the CJP's official X handle showed cops entering the plane through the staircase passage, even as Dipke said that the police was “coming to pick up” the CJP leaders.
{{/usCountry}}“We had just landed, but police officers are now trying to pick us up from the aircraft itself,” Dipke is heard saying in the 3-minute long video ahead of the detention. As the cops are seen entering the aircraft and moving towards the CJP leaders' seats, Dipke and others start chanting slogans, including “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and “Inquilab Zindabad.”
The CJP founder also claims that the passengers were being “inconvenienced”, while telling the police officers, “I have come here to be arrested.” In another video, the cops can be heard clarifying that they were not arresting Dipke and others, while urging them to “cooperate”.
‘Pre-planned interception’: CJP statement on detentions
In its statement, the CJP said that it “strongly condemns the authoritarian detention of CJP leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das, and Ashutosh Ranka straight from their 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,” CJP said. It further added, “The CJP denounces this blatant violation of freedom of movement and demands the immediate, unconditional release of Dipke, Das, and Ranka.”
YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, creator Kavya Karnatac, ex-Kerala CM Vijayan among those detained
Earlier on Saturday, the Gurugram Police reached YouTuber Dhruv Rathee's residence in Kendriya Vihar society, Sector 56, Gurugram. Rathee had travelled to India from Germany to join the CJP-led protest.
A senior Gurugram Police official said that officers were asking Rathee not to travel to Delhi to join the demonstration. The YouTuber was detained after he refused to comply. Minutes after, content creator Kavya Karnatac, who goes by the username ‘KK.Create’ on Instagram, was also detained from Dhaula Kuan. Former Keralam chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, along with CPI(M) leaders MA Baby, MV Govindan Master, A Vijayaraghavan, KK Shailaja, John Brittas, KN Balagopal, Brinda Karat, was also detained, the party claimed.
More than 1,000 people were detained overnight in the Capital, with more than 250 picked up from Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Nagar. Over 60 people were detained from outside Bangla Sahib Gurdwara, where some protesters had taken shelter overnight.