CJP leaders Dipke, Ranka, Das released by Delhi Executive Magistrate

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) conveners Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das were released from police custody by the Special Executive Magistrate Court at the Delhi Cantt Police Station on Sunday, October 11. CJP legal affairs head Ratna Singh confirmed to TNM that all three leaders have been released. 

The release came almost 24 hours after the CJP leaders were taken into custody from inside their flight at the Delhi airport on October 10. 

YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, who was detained from his house in Gurugram on October 10 morning, was also reportedly released later in the night. 

The three CJP leaders were detained under Sections 126 (Security for keeping peace) and 170 (Arrest to prevent commission of cognizable offences) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), according to LiveLaw. 

The preemptive detention came ahead of the group’s protest at Jantar Mantar demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and a rollback of SIR

Delhi police entered the flight as soon as it landed and detained the three from the aircraft amid heightened security arrangements in the national capital ahead of the demonstration. Dipke went live on Instagram as police personnel entered the aircraft and detained the CJP members after they arrived in Delhi.

Delhi witnessed heavy police and paramilitary presence on October 10, putting the capital city in a lockdown-like situation. Around 35,000 Delhi police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed. Other security measures included barricades, intensified checks at Delhi’s borders, surveillance at sensitive locations and restrictions on public transport. 

More than 4,000 protesters were detained across various locations of Delhi. The police also detained several media persons despite carrying valid identification. 

Senior political leaders, including former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, former West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, and former Tripura CM Manik Sarkar were also detained for close to 8 hours.