Police closed Central Park and detained about 150 people. They say waving the flag is not a crime, but gathering without permission is. The party says the government is silencing dissent.
Delhi Police arrested Abhijeet Dipke, founder of India’s youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), on Friday, October 16. He was arrested hours before a flag march he had called in the centre of the capital.
Police closed Central Park in Connaught Place, where the march was planned for 5 p.m. Officers in riot gear guarded the area. Even so, nearly 500 protesters reached Connaught Place in small groups and protested at about six spots around the park, Reuters reported.
Police officials said about 150 people were detained during the day, the news agency ANI reported. Police have also filed several cases for breaking the ban on gatherings, and say repeat offenders could face more legal action.
Dipke arrested, Neha Bora released
Police took Dipke as he left a house in central Delhi, after a brief argument, Reuters reported. “We are placing you under preventive detention,” an officer told him, according to ANI.
Preventive detention means holding someone to stop a possible crime, not because they have already committed one. Police used two sections of India’s criminal procedure law. One lets them arrest a person to prevent a serious offence. The other lets a magistrate order a person to give a promise to keep the peace.
Dipke was due to appear before a special executive magistrate on Saturday. The result of that hearing was not known at the time of writing. Ratna Singh, the party’s legal head, said his lawyers had not been able to meet him. She called the arrest unlawful and asked the magistrate to free him.
Student leader Neha Bora, president of the All India Students’ Association (AISA), was also detained on Friday. She was stopped near Mandi House as she tried to reach Connaught Place with dozens of supporters. She was released early on Saturday morning, police said. AISA said its lawyers were not allowed to meet her while she was held.
What the police say
Before the march, police gave Dipke two written notices.
The first said the New Delhi Municipal Council had not given permission for the march. It said a gathering at Connaught Place would break prohibitory orders, which ban large groups from meeting in the area.
The notice also said waving the national flag is not illegal, but an unpermitted march or crowd is, ANI reported.
The second notice said Dipke had already signed a bond on October 11, promising to keep the peace for one year. He signed it after being detained at Delhi airport the day before, when he flew in for the party’s protest at Jantar Mantar.
Police gave several reasons for stopping the march. They said a crowd could cause a stampede at Rajiv Chowk, a Metro station under Connaught Place used by about 200,000 people a day. They also pointed to traffic, harm to local shops, security near Parliament, and earlier CJP protests that they say turned violent, ANI reported.
What protesters say
Protesters say they were stopped for carrying the flag and speaking against the government.
“If waving the tricolour in the country has become a crime, then I am happy to go to jail,” said Saurav Kumar, a data analyst who was detained, according to Reuters.
Before his arrest, Dipke said he and his supporters were “not afraid” and were ready to go to jail, Al Jazeera reported. He said asking for accountability is “not anarchy”. He said the party’s protests in other cities had been peaceful.
Opposition leaders criticised the arrests. Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee said Dipke “has been detained for holding the Indian National Flag.” Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called it “outright dictatorship.”
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the protests were an attempt by the opposition Congress party to take power, Al Jazeera reported.
The court did not stop the march
On October 15, a day before the march, a street vendor from Palika Bazar, an underground market in Connaught Place, asked the Delhi High Court to ban protests in the area. He said the march would hurt traders ahead of the Dussehra festival.
The court did not ban the march. Instead, it recorded a promise from the police that they would take “all possible measures” to control it. The case returns to court on November 3.
Why the march was called
Dipke called the march after two of his party’s leaders, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, were sent to five days of judicial custody on October 14. Police say they entered Jantar Mantar, the former protest site near Parliament, and broke their own peace bonds.
The party’s main demand is the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Critics say his review of voter lists could remove millions of real voters and help Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Election Commission and the BJP reject this.
Order or the right to protest?
A government has a duty to keep roads, markets and Metro stations safe. Citizens have a right to protest peacefully. On Friday, the two came into conflict.
Police say they acted to stop danger before it happened. Protesters say they were stopped before they had done anything wrong. Only a court can decide whether the arrests were lawful, and no court has ruled on that yet.
What happens next
The magistrate’s decision will show whether Dipke stays in custody. Das and Ranka’s five days in custody end on October 19. The High Court will hear the trader’s case again on November 3.
By The Lion Capital Editorial Team | October 2026