‘Heading Back To My Village’: Abhijeet Dipke After Release From Delhi Police Detention

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leader Abhijeet Dipke on Sunday said he was heading back to his village to be with his family during a moment of grief, a day after he and two other party leaders were detained by Delhi Police upon arriving at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport from Mumbai.

In a post on X, Dipke said, “Heading back to my village to be with my family during this moment of grief.” He added that CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka would address a press conference in Delhi shortly.

“The CJP will neither back down nor be intimidated,” Dipke wrote, adding, “October 10 will go down as the beginning of the end of this dictatorship.”

Dipke, Das and Ranka were released by a Special Executive Magistrate on Sunday morning, October 11, after spending nearly 24 hours in preventive detention. Their release reportedly came with conditions linked to maintaining peace.

The three leaders were detained by Delhi Police from inside their Air India flight shortly after it landed at IGI Airport on Saturday. They were travelling to participate in the party’s proposed protest at Jantar Mantar, for which authorities had denied permission.

The CJP has been demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The police initiated preventive action against the leaders under Sections 126 and 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), relating to security for keeping the peace and preventing the commission of cognisable offences.

The detentions came amid a wider crackdown on protesters in Delhi ahead of the planned demonstration. YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was also detained on Saturday and subsequently released.

Despite the detentions, the CJP has maintained that its agitation over the SIR exercise and its demand for the CEC’s resignation will continue.