Cockroach Janta Party leader Abhijeet Dipke's grandmother passed away on Saturday, a development communicated to the activist by the Delhi Police. According to reports citing official sources, law enforcement has provided Dipke with the option to travel back home in order to attend the final funeral rites or choose to continue his involvement in the ongoing demonstrations.
Dipke, alongside fellow Cockroach Janta Party co-conveners Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, was taken into custody by police officers from inside an aircraft immediately after landing at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Saturday morning. Following his detention, Dipke stated that pressure group member Ajinkya Shinde would take charge of leading the planned protests against the Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, after Dipke was reportedly moved to an undisclosed location.
Ahead of these events, the political group circulated a pre-recorded video message featuring Dipke that he had filmed the previous night in anticipation of a potential arrest. In the recording, Dipke instructed supporters that if he and the other co-conveners were detained, the movement should be carried forward under the leadership of national organisation in-charge Ajinkya Shinde.
The detentions formed part of broader police actions in the capital on Saturday. The Communist Party of India Marxist reported via social media that several prominent leaders, including Pinarayi Vijayan, MA Baby, MV Govindan Master, A Vijayaraghavan, KK Shailaja, John Brittas, KN Balagopal, Brinda Karat, and PK Sreemathi, were detained upon arriving at Jantar Mantar. Additionally, former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee was taken into custody during the afternoon while staging a sit-in demonstration on the roadway near the South Avenue bus stand.