Hingoli (Maharashtra) [India], October 13 (ANI): Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) activist Abhijeet Dipke on Tuesday alleged that party members detained in Delhi had been kept at separate locations and claimed that police prevented lawyers from entering a police station.
Speaking about the detention of party members, Dipke said he had spoken to CJP legal head Ratna Singh, who informed him that Ashutosh, Ajinkya and Saurav had been kept separately, 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.
The remarks came as Delhi Police on Tuesday detained CJP activists Ashutosh Ranka, Saurav Das, and Ajinkya Shinde after they attempted to break the cordon and enter Jantar Mantar after it had been denotified as a protest spot.
Dipke 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.
"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 further said.
Earlier, denouncing the arrests, Dipke questioned the legality and morality of the police action.
"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.
Addressing the police action, he warned against the denial of legal rights to those in custody.
"The whole country will become Jantar Mantar. Jantar Mantar is not just a location; it is a spirit of resistance," Dipke said.
"We hope that the Delhi Police will let them talk to their lawyers. It shouldn't happen that, as it happened to me, they are kept for 24 hours without being allowed to speak to a lawyer. As a legal procedure, they should be allowed to speak to a lawyer because you cannot just pick someone up like this," he said.
The CJP leader further described the crackdown as a "greatest example of a dictatorial mentality," asserting that the government is attempting to treat public spaces as its own private domain.
"The dictatorship doesn't want anyone to go to Jantar Mantar and hoist the tricolor. They think the whole country is their personal property. It is not like that; Jantar Mantar belongs to the people of this country, the 140 crore Indians," he asserted. (ANI)
CJP's Dipke alleges volunteers detained separately, questions Centre
