NEW DELHI: “Even Indira Gandhi didn’t do this,” Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leader Abhijeet Dipke said in a video shared by the party after he and fellow leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained by Delhi Police at Indira Gandhi International Airport on Saturday ahead of the proposed protest at Jantar Mantar.In a video shared by the party on X, Dipke is heard claiming that police personnel had entered the aircraft and were trying to take him into custody.He compared the alleged action to the Emergency imposed by former prime minister Indira Gandhi.“So, you can see that Delhi Police is entering the plane to arrest us. They are all entering the plane. We just landed. All the Delhi Police officers are standing in the aisle. They are trying to arrest us from inside the plane. The entire Delhi Police is getting on the plane. This is the fear of Narendra Modi…Not even Indira Gandhi did this during the Emergency. All we wanted to do is a peaceful protest, and they are picking us up from the flight like we are criminals,” Dipke said.In another video, Dipke was heard challenging the personnel to arrest him.“You can see where the nation is heading. They are here to arrest us directly from the flight. This is something not even Indira Gandhi had done. This is dictatorship, where Delhi Police has entered the flight and is trying to arrest us. Come on, arrest us. We are here to be arrested. Come on, arrest us. We are here to be arrested. We are not afraid of you,” he said.At one point, Dipke is heard saying, “I have come here to be arrested; arrest me.” A police personnel responds, “No, this is not an arrest. Please cooperate.”The alleged incident came as Delhi Police stepped up security ahead of the CJP’s proposed protest at Jantar Mantar against the Election Commission and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls.The party also claimed that its legal head, Ratna Singh, was being detained while attempting to leave her home in a car. In a video, Singh alleged that police personnel had arrived at her residence and told her they had orders to detain her.“They came to my house in the morning and were told that I am not here. We asked for official notification, do they have some? They have nothing. They just said, ‘We need to detain you, we have orders from above.’ I don’t know which ‘above’ the orders came from for them,” she said.Singh further alleged that the personnel were asking her to get out of the car and remain at her home, describing the situation as illegal detention.Delhi Police said around 600 people arriving in different groups from various locations had been detained. Nearly 50 people with criminal antecedents were also picked up as a preventive measure, police said, adding that the action was intended to prevent disturbances or attempts to incite trouble.The New Delhi district was divided into 20 operational zones, with designated detention centres for each zone. Police personnel were deployed at multiple locations, while entry points to the capital were placed under heightened surveillance.As part of the security measures, 46 Metro stations were closed. The arrangements were aimed at preventing a recurrence of the protests witnessed on July 20.The CJP had called for a protest demanding Kumar’s resignation over alleged electoral roll irregularities and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists.
