MUMBAI: The Shivaji Park Citizens Forum has urged police to register a murder case against Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke, alleging that a senior citizen died during the party’s October 2 protest at Shivaji Park.The forum has filed a police complaint seeking action against Dipke in connection with the death.75-year-old man dies of heart attack during CJP protestA 75-year-old Kerala man died after suffering a heart attack while attending the CJP protest at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park on Friday evening. The deceased was identified as Gopalakrishna Subbaiya Pillai, a resident of Dosti West County, B Wing, in Thane.Pillai, who had come to Mumbai from Kerala, was staying in Thane and reached Shivaji Park around 4.30pm to witness the protest, police said.After he suffered the heart attack, his friend and police personnel deployed at the protest site helped take him to Sushrusha Hospital in Shivaji Park.Policemen at the spot also tried to revive him by performing CPR, but their efforts were unsuccessful.Pillai died while undergoing treatment at the hospital, police said.Mumbai Police register FIR against protest organisersMeanwhile, a separate case was registered against the organisers of the CJP protest and 400-500 unidentified supporters and agitators.Mumbai Police said an FIR was registered at Shivaji Park police station against the protest organisers and the unidentified persons.The case has been registered under Sections 189 and 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Sections 37(1)(3) and 135 of the Maharashtra Police Act.The development follows a protest organised by CJP activists and other civil society organisations at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park on October 2 against the Election Commission and alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.Earlier, Siddhi Deolekar, a resident and advocate, had filed a complaint at Shivaji Park police station against CJP activists Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka, Saurav Das and Ratna Singh. The complaint alleged that they proceeded with the protest despite permission being denied.In a post on X, Deolekar said the complaint was filed against CJP leaders Dipke, Ranka, Das and Ratna Singh, the legal affairs head of the Cockroach Janata Party, and others for allegedly proceeding with the protest and gathering a large crowd despite an express denial of permission.“As a responsible Shivaji Park citizen, I have lodged a complaint against @abhijeet_dipke, @AshutoshRanka, @Saurav Dassss and @whattalawyer at Shivaji Park Police Station for allegedly attempting to proceed with the Shivaji Park Protest and gathering a huge crowd despite express denial of permission and the restrictions flowing from the Hon’ble Bombay High Court’s judgment in PIL 116/2009 dated 04.01.2013 and the subsequent Maharashtra Government order,” she said.She also referred to restrictions arising from the Bombay High Court’s judgment in PIL 116/2009 dated January 4, 2013, and a subsequent Maharashtra government order.“This is not ‘peaceful protest’. This is an attempt to defy the law under the cover of a political protest,” Deolekar told news agency ANI.
