CJP Leaders Detained Mid-Flight
Three prominent leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) – founder Abhijeet Dipke and senior members Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka – are scheduled to be produced before an Executive Magistrate at the Delhi Cantonment Police Station today, October 11. The detention occurred on October 10, shortly after their commercial flight from Mumbai landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI).
The leaders were taken into custody ahead of a planned march at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Their planned demonstration aimed to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, citing alleged discrepancies in electoral rolls. Video footage circulated on social media showed Delhi Police personnel boarding the aircraft to execute the detention. While on the plane, Dipke was heard stating, "You can see that Delhi Police is entering the plane to arrest us. They are all entering the plane. We just landed... Come on, arrest us. We are here to be arrested." Police officials on scene reportedly replied, "No, this is not an arrest. Please cooperate."
Police Justify Detention
The Delhi Police stated that the leaders were detained because no official permission had been granted for their proposed demonstration in the national capital. The CJP's legal head confirmed that a police officer informed him of the leaders' scheduled presentation before the magistrate, where legal representatives from the party would be present. The party had previously voiced concerns about the undisclosed whereabouts of the detained leaders after they were escorted off the aircraft.
Police officials also confirmed that Abhijeet Dipke was sensitively informed of his grandmother's passing while in custody and offered travel arrangements to his hometown on humanitarian grounds.
Supreme Court to Hear Contempt Petition
Separately, the Supreme Court was scheduled to hold a special hearing today, October 11, to address a contempt petition. This petition accuses key authorities of willful disobedience regarding the court's October 9 directive against a complete shutdown of metro and train services in the national capital.
A bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was scheduled to hear the matter at 10:30 AM, according to the apex court's official cause list. The petition seeks contempt proceedings for alleged violations of judicial instructions that explicitly prohibited a total ban on public transport operations during the CJP protests.
Widespread Detentions Reported
Reports indicate that nearly 3,000 individuals were detained across various locations in Delhi, including Jantar Mantar and near the Delhi airport. Prominent CJP supporter and YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was also detained ahead of the planned march but has since been released with a warning against proceeding to Jantar Mantar. Co-founder Ajinkya Shinde has stepped forward to lead the party's ongoing mobilization efforts.