Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke has handed over the leadership of movement and its ongoing protest to Ajinkya Shinde following his detention.
Dipke, along with CJP members Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, was detained by Delhi police personnel who boarded their flight as it landed in the capital from Mumbai, reports NDTV.
The CJP leadership had arrived in New Delhi to lead a demonstration at Jantar Mantar against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Anticipating his detention, Dipke had pre-recorded a video message on Friday night, which was published on the party’s official X account on Saturday following his arrest.
In the broadcast, Dipke announced that Organisation In-Charge Ajinkya Shinde would lead protest and broader CJP movement until the detained leaders are released.
“If you are watching this video, it means that I, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka have been arrested. In our absence, Ajinkya will lead the protest and the CJP movement. Please follow him,” Dipke said.
Following the announcement, Shinde issued a video statement calling on supporters to continue marching towards Jantar Mantar despite police blockades.
“The government is scared of our unity. Please come to Jantar Mantar. If police stops you, turn that very spot into Jantar Mantar,” he urged.
Shinde, who hails from the coastal town of Alibaug in Maharashtra, is a long-standing associate of Dipke, having first met him in Goa in 2016.
A former corporate employee, Shinde previously worked full-time for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) during its Goa assembly election campaign and subsequently served as the social media coordinator for Maharashtra team.
The detentions occurred amidst a capital-wide security crackdown after Delhi Police refused permission for CJP rally, adding that authorization had not been requested well in advance.
Police conducted overnight operations arresting at least 400 protesters across various parts of Delhi, while those rounded up near Jantar Mantar were bundled into police buses and taken to Chhatrasal Stadium.
Earlier on Saturday morning, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was also detained from his residence in Gurugram.
Rathee, a critic of the Narendra Modi-led administration, had arrived in India from Germany earlier in the week and participated in a CJP protest in Bengaluru on 8 October.
Other political figures, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Trinamool Congress leaders, a Rajya Sabha MP, and a former Kerala chief minister, were also reported detained during the security operations.
The police curbs sparked political criticism, with Congress MP Shashi Tharoor condemning the restrictions as “regressive” and remarking that “Gen Z deserves better than Emer-Gen Z.”
