New Delhi: A message recorded the night before became Cockroach Janta Party’s backup plan on Saturday, after founder Abhijeet Dipke and fellow leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained on arrival in Delhi. CJP said its organisation in-charge, Ajinkya Shinde, would lead the planned Jantar Mantar protest while the three remained in detention.
Delhi Police personnel entered the aircraft carrying the leaders from Mumbai after it landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport on October 10. In its 10:53 am X post, CJP reported that all three had been detained from inside their flight and shared footage of the encounter.
View CJP’s original post — October 10, 2026
The protest journey stops inside the aircraft
The party’s roughly two-minute-21-second video brings the confrontation into the cramped cabin: passengers stand between rows of seats, phones are held up to record, and uniformed police personnel are visible in the aisle. In a later part of the footage, a woman police officer can be seen beside a man wearing a blue backpack as people move through the cabin.
A message prepared before the flight
The second CJP post, last edited at 12:59 pm, said Dipke had recorded a short message on Friday night anticipating a possible arrest. It named Shinde as the person who would lead the Jantar Mantar protest during the three leaders’ detention.
View CJP’s original post — October 10, 2026
In the recorded message, Dipke addresses supporters directly, says that seeing the video would mean he and his two colleagues had been arrested, and asks them to follow Shinde, who would carry the movement forward in their absence. The party’s announcement describes a temporary arrangement tied to the detention, rather than a permanent change of leadership.
Dipke uses the word “arrested” in the pre-recorded appeal. CJP’s accompanying posts describe the airport episode as detention. Those posts do not provide an arrest memo, details of charges or a subsequent release update.
Why the leaders were travelling to Delhi
The proposed protest sought Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over allegations concerning electoral-roll revision. These are allegations by the protesters; the Election Commission has rejected claims of politically motivated manipulation.
The confrontation followed Delhi Police’s October 9 refusal of permission. Its letter said the organisers’ October 7 communication fell short of the required 10-day advance application period. Police also cited alleged breaches of earlier conditions and risks to public order, traffic and other citizens.
The separate Supreme Court proceedings on Metro and railway restrictions concerned transport services; they did not grant permission for this gathering.
