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Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) activist Abhijeet Dipke was granted conditional bail on Saturday, a day after he was detained by the Delhi Police ahead of the proposed "Lehra Do Tiranga" rally at Connaught Places Central Park. Dipke was released from the Mandir Marg Police Station.
His release came after police said signing a peace bond is required. Dipke was picked up on Friday, when Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) prohibited public assemblies in Central Delhi. He was later booked under Sections 126 and 170 of the BNSS in a fresh preventive proceeding which is separate from October 10 action. Ahead of his scheduled appearance before the Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) at Mandir Marg Police Station, CJP head of legal affairs Ratna Singh challenged the legality of the arrest. "The SEM Court should release Abhijeet Dipke, as his arrest is unlawful. He merely urged people to unfurl the Tiranga - how can that by itself be a crime?" she wrote on X. She alleged that his whereabouts were not disclosed and that his lawyers were denied access to him. "Delhi Police cannot do unlawful acts under the garb of preventive detention," she said. At Dipke's home in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra, his mother, Anita Dipke, said the family had been deeply distressed. His grandmother died less than ten days ago, and the family then learned of his arrest. "We were very anxious. It has not even been 10 days since his grandmother passed away, and then we heard yesterday that he had been arrested. We were all deeply troubled. How could this happen? He was doing good work. Why does the government keep arresting him?" she said," she told ANI. After his release, Dipke, in a post on X, said that he is waiting for his "brothers" Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, who were remanded 5 day judicial custody on October 14. Das, Ranka and others were arrested for allegedly trespassing at Jantar Mantar. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal also welcomed the bail. "Hoisting the tricolor was, is, and will always be our right," he wrote on X. AAP workers had held their own Tiranga rally on Friday against the Election Commission. Earlier in the day, Delhi Police registered multiple FIRs for violations of prohibitory orders imposed in Connaught Place and other parts of New Delhi during protests on Friday, officials said on Saturday. According to police officials, despite repeated announcements asking people not to assemble, a crowd gathered around Connaught Place. FIRs will be registered for violations of prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), officials said, adding that action would also be taken against repeat offenders. All India Students' Association (AISA) national president Neha Bora was also detained on Friday, and released on Saturday after formal procedures under Section 65 of the Delhi Police Act. She said detainees were being held overnight and released the next morning or evening, and asked under what authority this was done. She also criticised the restrictions imposed in Central Delhi amid the protests against the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and demanded the impeachment of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and a halt to the revision exercise. "Law and order are being flouted in every possible way. Ordinary citizens are treated as if they were hardened criminals, a practice that has persisted in this country for a long time," Bora said after her release. Bora also responded to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's charge of "anarchy" against the Opposition over the protests. She said the restrictions in the capital were inconveniencing ordinary people. Referring to the allegations of "anarchy" by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh levelled against the Opposition over the protests, Bora questioned the government's position and said restrictions in the national capital were inconveniencing ordinary people. "Furthermore, there is a new narrative being pushed, one of chaos and anarchy. What kind of chaos and anarchy? The one you unleashed in Central Delhi? The people of Delhi cannot even breathe a sigh of relief; whichever route they take to get to work, they find it blocked. You are spreading chaos and anarchy across the nation," she said. The protests are part of a wider Opposition campaign against the Election Commission's SIR of electoral rolls. INDIA bloc parties, student groups and activists. CJP has garnered support from several parties, including DMK, TMC and AAP. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP and deputy general secretary Kanimozhi on Saturday said that her party had extended support to the CJP when its leaders were arrested, adding that she had attended a protest in Chennai to convey the party's support. (ANI)
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