Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das were released on Sunday after appearing before an executive magistrate at Delhi Cantonment Police Station. The three had been held since Saturday after arriving from Mumbai for a protest at Jantar Mantar demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in the revision of electoral rolls.
Speaking to reporters after his release, CJP co-convener Ranka announced the party’s next move. The announcement followed the party’s call for another demonstration at Jantar Mantar on Sunday. The three leaders had travelled to Delhi for a protest demanding Kumar’s resignation over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. CJP and opposition parties allege that the exercise has wrongly removed eligible voters and favoured the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Election Commission has rejected claims of political bias.
Authorities deployed at least 30,000 police and paramilitary personnel by Friday evening, according to The Indian Express. While official figures showed more than 7,000 people detained on Saturday, the CJP alleged that the actual number of detained protesters reached up to 15,000.
Their release came with a condition requiring them to maintain public peace for one year, according to Ratna Singh, the CJP’s head of legal affairs. Singh confirmed that the leaders had been released with the condition of “no breach of peace for one year”. “We will hold a press conference at 2 PM,” he said. Delhi Police said it had acted to prevent a possible breach of public order.
