NEW DELHI: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) activist Abhijeet Dipke on Tuesday alleged that party leaders Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and Ajinkya Shinde remained in police detention, claiming that their lawyers were being denied permission to meet them.In a post on X, Dipke questioned the police action and alleged a violation of procedural norms, news agency ANI reported.“Saurav, Ashu and Ajinkya are still in detention and the police is not allowing the lawyers to meet them,” Dipke stated in a post on X. “How can police stop lawyers from meeting them? This is kidnapping because the police are certainly not following the rule of law.”
Dipke’s tweet
Speaking to ANI, Dipke reiterated the allegations, saying he had spoken to CJP legal head Ratna Singh, who informed him that the three leaders had been kept separately after their detention, while 11 volunteers accompanying them had been taken elsewhere.“I spoke to Ratna (CJP legal head Ratna Singh) just now; she told me that Ashutosh, Ajinkya, and Saurav have been kept separately (after detention in Delhi). The 11 volunteers who were with them have been taken somewhere else,” he said.He further alleged that police did not allow the party’s lawyers to enter the police station when they arrived and that other party members were threatened with detention, ANI reported.“When our lawyers reached the Police Station, Police didn’t let them enter. Others from our party were threatened with detention there,” he added.“Dictatorship is going on in the country. Rules are being ignored. What are you scared of? I don’t understand why Gyanesh Kumar is so important to Narendra Modi,” Dipke said.The allegations came after Delhi Police detained CJP activists Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and Ajinkya Shinde on Tuesday while they were attempting to enter the Jantar Mantar protest site.The action followed the de-notification of Jantar Mantar as a designated demonstration site by authorities a day earlier.Earlier on Tuesday, Dipke had alleged that the detained party members were being held at separate locations and that police had prevented lawyers from entering a police station.While denouncing the detentions, Dipke had also questioned the legality and morality of the police action, claiming that the activists had been detained for hoisting the national flag at Jantar Mantar.“Our team went to Jantar Mantar this morning and hoisted the tricolor. When did hoisting the tricolor become a violation? Whoever thinks that hoisting the tricolor at Jantar Mantar is a violation is a traitor. And if Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka, Ajinkya Shinde, and the others who were arrested for hoisting the tricolor are charged, then there should be strict action taken against them. How can you arrest someone for hoisting the tricolor? What kind of country is this? What kind of rule is this?” Dipke questioned.It was earlier reported that CJP leaders and other team members were detained by Delhi Police after attempting to enter Jantar Mantar, following the withdrawal of the site’s designated protest status.(With agency inputs)
