CJP chief Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das, and Ashutosh Ranka detained straight from flight after landing in Delhi

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke and party leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained by Delhi Police shortly after landing in the national capital on Saturday, the group said, as a security crackdown gathered pace ahead of its planned protest against CEC Gyanesh Kumar.

Condemning the detentions as a pre-planned attempt to stop its leaders from reaching the protest site, the CJP demanded their immediate and unconditional release.

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In a statement, the party accused Delhi Police of trying to cripple the leadership of its planned demonstration before it could begin and called the action a violation of their freedom of movement.

The CJP had planned a demonstration demanding Kumar’s resignation over alleged manipulation of electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and changes relating to Form 6, used for voter registration.

Delhi Police stepped up preventive action to stop crowds from gathering at Jantar Mantar after denying permission for the CJP’s protest.

The measures included detaining people attempting to reach the protest site, imposing prohibitory orders in New Delhi, tightening checks at Delhi’s borders and deploying drones and additional security personnel, while entry and exit at 45 Metro stations were also restricted until 6 pm on Saturday.

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It also detained more than 200 people attempting to reach Jantar Mantar, while more than 600 people with criminal records were detained across Delhi’s 15 districts as a preventive measure.

YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was also detained from his residence in Gurugram’s Sector 56, PTI had reported, citing sources, while CJP's legal head Ratna Singh separately alleged that she had been illegally detained in a police vehicle after officers visited her home.