The Delhi Police on Friday detained Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and AISA activist Neha Bora, in the thick of the party’s ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ protest in the national capital. Their detentions came when they were trying to join the planned protest at Delhi’s Connaught Place.

Notably, security arrangements had been beefed up, while prohibitory orders had also been imposed, barring public gatherings in and around Connaught Place.

Dipke was detained shortly after he left the residence of NCP-SCP spokesperson Anish Gawande and was marching towards Connaught Place, despite the police having warned him earlier against participating in the demonstration. Bora, meanwhile, was detained minutes later while beginning her march from Mandi House. Visuals of the detention soon began making rounds on social media, in which a police official was being heard informing him that he was being taken into preventive custody under Section 163, which was in force in Connaught Place.

6k cops, 220 companies of CAPF deployed

For the unversed, the CJP had called for the ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ protest at Central Park in Connaught Place on Friday. However, the police refused to grant permission for the march, citing curbs imposed under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), under which mass gatherings remain prohibited in Connaught Place and neighbouring areas.

More than 6,000 police personnel and 220 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), each comprising 100 cops, were pressed into service across the New Delhi area to prevent any law and order fallout.

Cops issue notice to Dipke

Earlier in the day, several Delhi police personnel had served a notice on Dipke, prohibiting him from organising the stir. The notice was issued to him hours before the scheduled protest, as the police cited potential traffic congestion, risks of a stampede-like situation and concerns over public safety.

A copy of the notice accessed by news agency PTI reads that the Station House Officer (SHO) of Connaught Place issued it under the subject, ‘Regarding proposed unlawful assembly/demonstration at Connaught Place on October 16.’ The notice referred to directives issued by the Delhi High Court (HC) and cited Dipke’s public statements, coupled with social media appeals urging people to gather at Connaught Place at 5 pm on October 16 without obtaining the necessary legal permission.

Police voice public safety concerns

Shedding the light on the decision, police described Connaught Place as a major commercial centre comprising concentric circles linked by radial roads, with limited entry and exit points. As per the notice, a crowd assembling in one section could quickly obstruct adjoining areas, complicating crowd dispersal and emergency evacuations.

The area lodges numerous showrooms, restaurants, hotels, banks, offices and street vendors. The notice warned that any disruption, particularly during evening and weekend hours and the peak festive season, could have an adverse effect on businesses and livelihoods.

It further said that more than 15 lakh traders and their employees depended on CP’s peaceful functioning to exercise their fundamental rights.

The notice invoked Sections 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33 of the Delhi Police Act, 1978, alongside other legal provisions and prohibited Dipke from organising demonstrations, processions or rallies in the vicinity of Connaught Place.