NEW DELHI, Oct 13: Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka on Tuesday while they were attempting to reach Jantar Mantar, police sources said.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke claimed that several other party members, including Ajinkya Shinde, were also taken into custody during the incident.
In a post on X, Dipke said party members carrying the national flag had entered Jantar Mantar early in the morning before police personnel detained them.
“You cannot denotify the resistance,” Dipke said in his post, tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Dipke also shared a video purportedly showing CJP members climbing over a gate to enter the protest site while raising slogans, including “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”. The footage showed police personnel approaching the group and taking the members away.
The detentions took place amid heightened security arrangements across New Delhi following calls by various organisations for demonstrations against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The controversy surrounding the revision exercise has triggered political tensions, with critics raising concerns about the electoral roll verification process and demanding accountability from the Election Commission.
Delhi Police has deployed additional personnel at key locations across the capital to maintain law and order and prevent any untoward incidents during the planned demonstrations.
Authorities have been maintaining heightened vigilance around designated protest areas as political groups and other organisations continue to voice their concerns over the electoral process.
Further details regarding the grounds for the detention of the CJP members and whether they would be released were not immediately available.