CJP to approach police seeking date to hold peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar

The Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka on Sunday said he and other leaders of the outfit would approach Delhi Police on Monday (October 12) to seek a date for holding a peaceful protest at the Jantar Mantar, a day after three of its top leaders were detained at Delhi airport ahead of its planned demonstration in the capital.

In a post on X, Ranka said he, along with Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) co-convenor Saurav Das, legal head Ratna Singh and other leaders would visit the Parliament Street Police Station at 10 am on Monday to seek a date for the protest.

Also read: ‘Jantar Mantar 2.0 is on’: CJP, student activists vow to continue protests

“Delhi Police can give us a date for Jantar Mantar in 24 hours, else the CJP will give another protest call,” Ranka said.

The CJP had planned to hold a protest at the Jantar Mantar on Saturday, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

CJP leaders detained from aircraft

However, Delhi Police detained CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, Ranka and Das after their flight from Mumbai landed at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on Saturday.

The leaders alleged that they were forcibly removed from the aircraft and taken into custody without being shown written grounds for their detention.

Their detention came amid extensive security arrangements and restrictions across the national capital ahead of the proposed demonstration, with the CJP accusing the authorities of preventing the protesters from reaching the designated protest site.

The three leaders were released on Sunday after being produced before an executive magistrate. After their release, the trio alleged that their phones had been seized during detention, and that they were denied access to legal counsel, even as they vowed to continue their agitation.

Ranka had described the developments as reminiscent of the Emergency, saying trains were cancelled and protesters were harassed to prevent them from reaching Delhi.

The leaders also accused the government of turning their campaign against the Election Commission into a confrontation with the ruling establishment.

Over 200 protesters detained

Meanwhile, over 200 protesters were detained as they raised slogans and marched towards the Jantar Mantar on Sunday, with several seen being dragged into police buses, as the protest called by the CJP entered its second day amid heavy security deployment across the capital.

Several journalists, who were covering the protests were also detained by police despite displaying press identification cards, according to visuals emerging on social media. They were seen showing press cards to officials as they were taken away.

Members of several student organisations, including the Students' Federation of India (SFI), All India Students' Association (AISA) and Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS), along with CJP supporters, were detained while trying to march towards Jantar Mantar from different parts of the capital, mainly Connaught Place.

Detentions continued into the evening, with protesters being picked up from various locations even after 6.30 pm.

The SFI organised a women's march around 6.30 pm, after which it alleged that several women protesters were detained from Connaught Place. The organisation claimed that female protesters were detained by male police personnel and alleged that their detention - after 6 pm - was illegal.

In a series of posts, the SFI alleged that several police vans and buses carrying detained women did not have a single female police personnel inside and were instead occupied by male officers.