New Delhi, 10 October 2026

The proposed Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi was overshadowed by a series of police detentions, beginning with the party’s top leadership. Founder and convener Abhijeet Dipke, along with co-conveners Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, was detained inside an Air India aircraft soon after it landed at Delhi airport on Saturday. The action came ahead of the party’s planned demonstration against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, as reports of further detentions emerged from across the capital.

Dipke went live on Instagram as Delhi Police personnel entered the aircraft to take the three CJP leaders into custody. The video showed a heated exchange between the party members and the officers, with the leaders questioning why the police had not waited until they had stepped off the plane. Addressing the women police personnel, Dipke said, “You could have waited till we came out. Come arrest us, we are not afraid.” The leaders were subsequently taken away from the airport to an undisclosed location.

Having travelled from Mumbai to Delhi to lead the planned protest, Dipke was detained before reaching the scheduled venue. The CJP strongly objected to the action, describing the detention of Dipke, Das and Ranka as “authoritarian detention.” The party alleged that intercepting its leaders immediately after landing was intended to prevent them from participating in the peaceful demonstration. It termed the action a violation of freedom of movement and demanded the immediate, unconditional release of all three leaders.

The police action reportedly began before the aircraft incident. YouTuber Dhruv Rathee and CJP legal cell head Ratna Singh were detained at their homes earlier in the day to prevent them from joining the demonstration. More than 400 suspected protesters were also detained from various parts of Delhi overnight, according to the report, indicating the wider scale of preventive action ahead of the planned gathering.

The controversy extended to leaders associated with the CPI(M). In a post on X, the party’s Keralam unit said MA Baby, Pinarayi Vijayan, MV Govindan Master, A Vijayaraghavan, KK Shailaja, John Brittas, KN Balagopal, Brinda Karat and PK Sreemathi had been detained upon arriving at Jantar Mantar. The developments followed Delhi Police’s refusal on Friday to grant permission for the CJP protest, citing that the application had not been submitted sufficiently in advance. With the planned demonstration facing restrictions and several political figures reportedly detained, the police action became the defining issue surrounding Saturday’s protest preparations.