Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke has been detained by Delhi police, Indian media reported, as a preventative measure to block the planned protest against India’s election chief in central Delhi.
According to reports by several media outlets, including India Today, authorities detained Dipke on board a flight after he landed in Delhi on Saturday morning. The news outlet quoted Dipke as saying, “I’m not afraid of you,” while police officers urged him to cooperate.
The CJP’s X handle soon released footage of the detention. “Shame on you Narendra Modi, Amit Shah,” the caption read, referring to India’s prime minister and home minister, respectively.
Authorities have also detained CJP’s co-conveners Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, as well as the group’s legal aid head, Ratna Singh.
Right before being arrested, Dipke posted a video on Instagram, showing tens of Delhi police officers lining up outside his airplane to enter. “Love you, we’ll do it together, Inqalab Zindabad,” one of Dipke’s associate is heard saying in the video’s background.
‘Inqalab Zindabad’, meaning ‘long live the revolution,’ is a famous slogan used by Indian freedom fighters during their struggle against British rule. It has regularly been used by the Cockroach party against the Modi government.
The preventative arrests are part of a major crackdown on protesters this weekend.
Most of central Delhi, where the government is headquartered, is under an internet blackout and riddled with barricades, which authorities are using to identify and stop potential protesters.
Source: www.dw.com
