New Delhi: Delhi Police placed Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke under preventive arrest and released All India Students’ Association (AISA) president Neha Bora early Saturday, a day after detaining them ahead of the ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ protest march at Connaught Place.
Dipke was taken into preventive custody under Sections 126 and 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) over apprehensions of a breach of peace. He is expected to be produced before a Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) later Saturday.
CJP legal head Ratna Singh alleged that Dipke’s whereabouts remained unknown and that lawyers had not been allowed to meet him.
“Abhijeet is arrested & will be produced before SEM court. His location still unknown, lawyers haven’t met,” Singh said in a post on X.
In a subsequent post, Singh said Dipke would be produced before the court at noon.
Meanwhile, Bora was released after completing the formalities associated with her detention under Section 65 of the Delhi Police Act.
Following her release, the AISA chief accused Delhi Police of detaining protesters without valid reasons and keeping them in custody for extended periods. She alleged that such detentions were being used to intimidate ordinary citizens participating in the ongoing protests.
“For a very long time in this country, it has been the case that people are detained without any valid reason and made to sit [in custody] for hours,” Bora said, alleging that protesters were routinely taken into custody and released the following morning or evening.
She also demanded the immediate release of Dipke and other detained demonstrators, arguing that they were ordinary citizens seeking accountability and protection of their voting rights.
Bora said she had not known that Dipke had been detained and questioned the justification for holding protesters at police stations overnight.
The CJP and AISA had raised concerns on Friday over the whereabouts of their respective leaders after Delhi Police detained them while they were on their way to join the ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ march.
The CJP alleged that Dipke had been taken to an undisclosed location and was being denied access to lawyers and party associates. AISA, meanwhile, claimed that Bora was being held alone at the Anti-Narcotics Task Force facility in Mangolpuri.
“The Delhi Police has taken Abhijeet Dipke to an undisclosed location. We have lost contact with him. He is not being allowed to talk to lawyers,” the CJP had said in a post on X.
The detentions came amid protests by the CJP, opposition parties, student groups and civil society organisations in several parts of the country. Demonstrators have demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging irregularities in electoral rolls and raising concerns over the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
The Election Commission has faced criticism from opposition groups over the revision process, with protesters demanding greater accountability and transparency in electoral procedures.
