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Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka kept under preventive arrest ahead of fresh Jantar Mantar stir
The CJP leaders were taken into custody from inside a flight after it landed at the Delhi airport. They will be produced before the executive magistrate.
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Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka have been placed under preventive arrest under Sections 126 (security for keeping peace) and 170 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognisable offences) of the BNSS, the group's legal head Ratna Singh said.
The CJP leaders were taken into custody from inside a flight after it landed at the Delhi airport on Saturday. They will be produced before the executive magistrate in Delhi Cantonment on Sunday, according to an update shared by Singh.
Under the Bharatiya Nyaya Suraksha Sanhita, a person can be held for up to 24 hours before being presented before a magistrate, unless the detention falls under special laws.
The whereabouts of Dipke, Das and Ranka remain unknown. Delhi Police has not responded to requests for information about their location, HT reported earlier. On Saturday evening, the CJP wrote to the Delhi Police commissioner seeking details of their whereabouts and described the detention as “illegal.”
With the leaders absent, CJP member Ajinkya Shinde said protesters would march towards Jantar Mantar again on Sunday and continue their agitation until chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar resigns.
Over 7,000 detained in Capital crackdown
Around 41,000 security personnel were deployed across the Capital on Saturday to prevent a planned demonstration demanding the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar. The security operation led to the detention of 7,000 people and left large parts of Delhi deserted.
Four former chief ministers, Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, Pinarayi Vijayan and Manik Sarkar, were among those detained as police cracked down on students, lawyers and politicians.
Despite the heavy police presence, small groups of protesters gathered at different locations across the city throughout the day. Police moved quickly to disperse them.
CJP's fresh protest, SC hearing today
The CJP announced another day of protests on Sunday, even as the Supreme Court is scheduled to hold a special sitting to hear petitions challenging the crackdown.
The Supreme Court will hear a contempt plea on Sunday alleging that authorities failed to follow its Friday order against blanket restrictions on metro and railway services. The top court will also hear a petition challenging the preventive detention of Opposition leaders, including four former chief ministers, and other individuals.
The Opposition, which had brought central Delhi to a standstill last week, has also announced fresh demonstrations from Monday.
Police began detaining people heading to the protest as early as 1 am on Saturday. Authorities had earlier denied permission for the demonstration. Security measures included laying spike strips on major roads, setting up thousands of yellow barricades that restricted traffic and using loudspeakers to play recorded police warnings against unlawful gatherings.
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