Have come to get arrested: CJP's Abhijeet Dipke to cops inside AI plane in Delhi

CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke was detained by Delhi Police inside an Air India aircraft after it landed in Delhi on Saturday. He repeatedly told officers to arrest him and said he was not afraid.

In Short

• CJP leaders detained from Air India flight on arrival in Delhi
• Delhi Police, mostly women officers, arrested trio inside plane
• CJP called detention authoritarian, violating freedom of movement

In scenes rarely witnessed aboard a commercial flight, the Cockroach Janata Party's Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Aushtosh Ranka were detained from inside an aircraft shortly after landing in Delhi, ahead of their proposed protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Saturday.

A Delhi Police team, notably comprising mostly women cops, entered the Air India flight from Mumbai within minutes of touchdown and detained the trio as co-passengers looked on and shot videos. The extraordinary scenes, captured on multiple mobile phone cameras, showed a visibly agitated Dipke telling the officers that he "had come to get arrested".

The CJP soon condemned the action, calling the detention authoritarian and a "blatant violation of freedom of movement".

In a statement issued on Saturday, the party strongly condemned the detention of Dipke, Das and Ranka. It alleged that the police had carried out a pre-planned interception to prevent its leaders from reaching the protest site and described the action as an attempt to cripple the leadership of the peaceful demonstration.

Moments ahead of his detention, Abhijeet Dipke posted a video on Instagram claiming that police were detaining him and his associates as they deboarded the aircraft at Delhi Airport.

In the video, Dipke is heard alleging, "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."

The CJP had called the demonstration to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

"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 the 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," Dipke is heard saying.

The CJP also posted a video of its legal head, Ratna Singh, who claimed that she was being detained while attempting to leave her home in her car.

In the video, Singh alleged that police officers had arrived at her residence in the morning and were told that she was not there. She claimed that when she asked the officers to show an official notification authorising the detention, they had nothing to produce.

"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 officers repeatedly asked her to get out of the car, telling her that they would detain her at her home. She claimed that they did not want to take her anywhere else and were preventing her from leaving the spot.

"And I am not getting out of the car. They are not leaving this space, so I am in a way illegally detained on the road," she said.

The party also claimed that Youtuber Dhruv Rathee had been detained, accusing the government of targeting young people who question its actions.

"The Dictator is terrified of young people who question its wrongdoings and refuse to stay silent," the CJP said in a post.

Delhi Police on Saturday said it had detained around 500 people who arrived in different groups from various locations ahead of the planned protest in the national capital.

"Around 500 people coming in different groups from various locations have been detained. In addition, nearly 50 anti-social elements with criminal antecedents have been picked up so that they do not disturb the atmosphere or incite trouble," Delhi Police said.

As part of the security arrangements, the New Delhi district has been divided into 20 operational zones, with dedicated detention centres established for each zone, police said.

Several demonstrators were detained after gathering at Jantar Mantar and Sansad Marg amid tight security and extensive barricading across the national capital.

Security personnel have been deployed at multiple locations as CJP activists remain firm on their call to protest against the Election Commission. Entry points to the national capital have been placed under heightened security, while 46 Metro stations remain closed, according to the details provided.

The security measures have been put in place to prevent any untoward incident during the demonstration, with police seeking to avoid a recurrence of the July 20 protests.

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