New Delhi : Abhijit Deepke, Ashutosh Ranka, and Sourav Das who had arrived in Delhi for a protest by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) were detained at the airport itself on Saturday. All three have been released following their appearance before an Executive Magistrate. A day later, the Delhi Police had stated that they were being held under preventive arrest. The police reported that the three CJP leaders were produced before the Executive Magistrate at the Delhi Cantt police station. It is worth noting that preventive arrest is not a punitive measure but a form of detention based on the apprehension of a potential offense; such action is taken to avert a likely crime. No FIR has been registered against Abhijit Deepke and his associates.

CJP leader Ajinkya Shinde has now taken charge of the protest. He claimed that over 15,000 people including students, civil society members, and political figures were detained and faced police action. Shinde also raised questions regarding the detention of CJP founder Abhijit Deepke and co-convenors Sourav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, noting that no information had been provided about the three even 12 hours after their detention. He has announced a march to Jantar Mantar on Sunday and declared that they will not back down until CEC Gyanesh Kumar resigns. Four journalist organizations, including the Press Club of India (PCI) and the Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC), condemned the detention and harassment of several journalists who were covering the protests.

In a joint statement, these organizations noted that the police detained several journalists despite them showing their press identity cards and confiscated the phones and equipment of some. The statement was issued by the PCI, IWPC, Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ), and the Delhi unit of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists.

The Cockroach Janata Party has announced a protest in Mumbai for Sunday as well. Ajinkya Shinde stated that protests against the dictatorship have now begun across the country. A peaceful protest will be held this evening at 4 PM at the Shivaji Park T-junction in Mumbai. Following this, protests will take place in various other cities. He remarked that the government made a grave mistake by arresting their leaders.

Report : Abhijit Tushar Bhatt (Political Editor)

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