New Delhi, October 2026 : Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder and convener Abhijeet Dipke was detained by Delhi Police on Friday while travelling to Central Park in Connaught Place, where he had called for a ‘Tiranga Assembly’ at 5 p.m.
The detention came hours after police issued two notices to Dipke, asking him not to organise the gathering at the venue. Officials said the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) had not granted permission for the event and that prohibitory orders were already in force at Central Park. Police warned that legal action could follow any violation of these orders.
According to officials, the first notice was issued by the New Delhi district authorities under the Delhi Police Act. It directed people not to visit Central Park, citing the imposition of prohibitory restrictions under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
A second notice was issued by the South West Delhi authorities, referring to earlier preventive action against Dipke and CJP co-conveners Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das. The three had previously been detained at the airport and produced before a court. They were subsequently bound down under a legal undertaking requiring them to refrain from causing public disturbances for one year, officials said.
Earlier on Friday, Dipke defended the party’s proposed demonstration, arguing that peaceful protests were a fundamental part of democratic expression. He accused the government of curtailing citizens’ freedoms and disrupting economic activity through shutdowns, internet suspensions and restrictions on movement.
In a strongly worded post on X, Dipke said demanding accountability from the government, protesting against injustice and questioning elected representatives could not be equated with creating anarchy.
He also reiterated that the CJP was committed to Mahatma Gandhi’s principles of peace and non-violence, despite what he described as attempts to provoke its members.
“Businesses do not suffer because of peaceful protests. They suffer when the govt decides to shut down an entire city, suspend Internet services, restrict the movement of its own citizens and turn the city into a war zone,” Dipke wrote.
The CJP founder further said the party had organised peaceful demonstrations in several cities, including Mumbai, Pune, Jaipur, Lucknow, Bengaluru and Nagpur.
The proposed ‘Tiranga Assembly’ was intended to bring supporters together at Central Park. However, with permission denied and prohibitory restrictions in force, police maintained that the gathering could not proceed at the designated location.
The developments came amid a dispute over the proposed demonstration, with Dipke asserting the importance of peaceful dissent and police citing restrictions and previous legal undertakings in support of their action.
