Police took Dipke into custody on Friday under preventive provisions intended to avert a breach of public peace. He was expected to appear before a Special Executive Magistrate, while the precise conditions of his detention and any subsequent judicial order remained unclear.
The arrest followed police warnings against a planned national flag march at Connaught Place, where hundreds of demonstrators nevertheless assembled to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Officers and paramilitary personnel maintained a heavy presence around the commercial district, restricting access to gathering points.
Dipke leads the youth-driven Cockroach Janta Party, whose supporters have joined student organisations and opposition groups in challenging the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of voter lists. Protest organisers allege that the exercise has unfairly removed eligible electors and benefited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Election Commission rejects allegations of political favouritism and maintains that the revision is intended to improve the accuracy of electoral records. It says eligible people whose names were wrongly removed have procedures available to seek restoration. The BJP has accused opposition parties of discrediting legitimate electoral processes for political advantage.
More than 130 million names have been removed from electoral rolls during the revision, a figure central to the protests. The commission has identified deaths, changes of residence and voters who could not be traced among the reasons for deletions. The overall total does not establish that all those removed were eligible voters or that the changes were politically directed.
The demonstrations have placed particular emphasis on the commission’s accountability, with campaigners demanding explanations for deletions and greater transparency in registration procedures. Opposition figures argue that the scale of the exercise creates a risk of disenfranchisement, especially for people who may struggle to navigate the process of restoring their names.
Friday’s march went ahead despite restrictions on access to Central Park at Connaught Place and notices issued to organisers. Police had warned that gatherings could obstruct commuters, businesses and emergency movement. Protesters carrying the national flag assembled at different points while officers detained participants who defied instructions.
Student leader Neha Bora, president of the All India Students’ Association, was also detained during the operation. She was subsequently released, while Dipke remained in custody pending his scheduled appearance. Her organisation reiterated its demand for Kumar’s resignation and called for the disputed revision to be withdrawn.
The Cockroach Janta Party said the police action was an attempt to suppress peaceful dissent. Its representatives maintained that carrying the national flag and calling for scrutiny of electoral decisions did not justify detention. Police, however, described their intervention as preventive rather than punishment for political views.
Dipke’s detention followed the imprisonment of two other party figures, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, who were placed in five days of judicial custody after an incident at Jantar Mantar. Authorities accused them of entering an area no longer designated for demonstrations and violating conditions imposed following an earlier detention.
The two were sent to Tihar Jail after appearing before a magistrate. Party representatives disputed the police account of their conduct, saying the activists had entered the site to display the national flag. Their custody was one of the immediate reasons Dipke called Friday’s march.
Dipke himself had been detained during an earlier protest and subsequently released on conditions requiring him to maintain public peace. The renewed police action has therefore raised questions among supporters about how authorities are applying preventive powers to successive demonstrations.
The movement has also attracted participation from opposition politicians and student groups beyond Delhi. Smaller gatherings were reported in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Patna, although Friday’s principal confrontation centred on Connaught Place.
Security arrangements included barricades, police vehicles and personnel stationed near approaches to the protest area. Organisers had urged supporters to assemble with national flags, while authorities instructed them to avoid locations where permission for demonstrations had not been granted.
Police also deployed personnel around Mandi House and nearby roads as demonstrators attempted to reach the gathering. The restrictions affected movement through parts of central Delhi, with officers monitoring entrances to public spaces and checking groups approaching the protest locations.
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