Delhi police say Abhijeet Dipke will face magistrate after preventive detention
Police said the Cockroach Janta Party founder was detained ahead of a Delhi protest on October 16. Student leader Neha Bora, detained the same evening, has been released.
Delhi Police said on October 17 that Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, detained under preventive provisions in New Delhi on October 16 ahead of a protest, was to be brought before a special executive magistrate. All India Students’ Association president Neha Bora, detained the same evening, was subsequently released, The Times of India reported.
Police said action under Sections 126 and 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita had been initiated against Dipke, according to The Times of India. The report did not establish the outcome of his planned appearance before the magistrate. Bora was released after formal procedures under Section 65 of the Delhi Police Act, the newspaper reported.
Detained on the way to a Connaught Place protest
Police sources told PTI that Dipke was detained in Jhandewalan while travelling to Connaught Place for the ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ protest, according to The Times of India. Dawn, in a report credited to AFP and Reuters, described video shown on CJP’s Instagram account in which officers stopped Dipke as he came out of a house, argued briefly with him and took him away in a police car.
In that video, an officer could be heard saying, ‘We are detaining you right now.’ Dipke responded, ‘I have not broken any law right now…how can you detain me?’ Dawn reported. Police had warned Dipke earlier on October 16 against going ahead with the protest, the report said.
CJP alleged that Dipke’s family, lawyers and party members could not contact him for more than 10 hours after he was detained. The party said it had written to Mandir Marg police station asking where he was being held, which legal provisions had been invoked and the grounds for his detention, The Times of India reported.
Protest followed earlier CJP detentions
Dipke had called the Connaught Place gathering in support of two CJP leaders detained earlier that week after demonstrating at Jantar Mantar, Dawn reported. CJP and left-wing student groups urged supporters to gather at Central Park and wave the Indian flag. The park was closed ahead of the planned protest; municipal authorities cited administrative reasons for a two-day closure, while Delhi Police barred public gatherings around Connaught Place on public order and safety grounds.
The protest was part of a broader campaign against India’s chief election commissioner over changes to voter rolls. Critics say the revision has disenfranchised millions, Dawn reported. Dipke’s detention and Bora’s release are later developments in the same series of Delhi demonstrations that led to the earlier arrests of CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka.
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Sources and context
- Delhi protest: Dipke held under preventive detention, to face magistrate; AISA's Neha Bora releasedThe Times of India; reports some details attributed to PTI
- Indian police detain 'cockroach' movement founder Dipke ahead of protestDawn; AFP and Reuters credits appear on the page
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.