How did CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke secure bail while his colleagues remained behind bars?
New Delhi: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke walked out of the Mandir Marg police station on Saturday after being granted conditional release by a Special Executive Magistrate (SEM). Dipke was taken into custody on Friday before he could reach the Lehra Do Tiranga march at Connaught Place.
According to officials speaking to NDTV, Dipke was released because he never actually reached the protest site. He was produced before the SEM and directed to furnish a bond of ₹50,000 alongside an undertaking to maintain peace. His arrest fell under Sections 126 and 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which deal with preventive action rather than direct criminal prosecution.
Soon after walking out, Dipke posted on X with a still from the film Veer-Zaara, captioning it: “How it feels walking out of jail after 24 hours with no wifi and phone.” He also shared a photograph of his colleagues, writing, “Now just waiting for my brothers to be free.”
Custody for co-founders and fresh detentions
Dipke’s colleagues, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, remain in five-day judicial custody ending Sunday, October 18. Officials stated that unlike Dipke, both men “reached Jantar Mantar stealthily despite being told not to and tried to spread unrest.” A third member, Ajinkya Shinde, had previously been released on Rs 5,000 personal bond.
Police noted that Das and Ranka were treated as repeat offenders, having breached a prior peace bond signed on October 10 by entering Jantar Mantar through private property on October 13—days after the site was removed from the list of approved protest zones.
Widespread demonstrations and police action
Around 150 people were detained across the capital on Friday as security forces cordoned off Central Park in Connaught Place. Among those picked up was All India Students’ Association (AISA) president Neha Bora, who was detained under Section 65 of the Delhi Police Act and released early Saturday morning.
Speaking to PTI, Bora said, “I was detained at Mandi House and kept here (at the police station) the whole night, until 5 am. Why are you (police) carrying out these illegal detentions? These things have been happening in this country for a long time, and this protest movement has clearly shown that such detentions are taking place. It has brought these kinds of detentions to light. They claim that they adhere to law and order and go by the book, but none of that is happening.”
Opposition groups, student unions, and the CJP continue to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) voter rolls, while the BJP has dismissed the agitation as foreign-funded attempts to cause disorder.