Dramatic scenes unfolded at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport on Saturday when an Air India flight carrying Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka landed ahead of the group's planned protest at Jantar Mantar. Soon after the aircraft arrived at the airport, police officers boarded it and detained the three leaders. However, the unexpected aspect of the operation was the Delhi Police's decision to deploy women officers to detain Dipke and his colleagues.
It remains unclear whether the deployment of women officers was a deliberate strategy. Police may have believed that sending male officers could increase the likelihood of a confrontation. Aircraft cabins have narrow aisles and limited space to move around, meaning even a minor altercation could quickly develop into a major disturbance.
The Delhi Police may have opted for women officers to reduce the possibility of an escalation. Apart from a few tense exchanges, Dipke and the other CJP leaders were eventually taken into custody without any major disruption.
The police operation appeared to take into account the violence that occurred on July 20, an incident that remains fresh in the minds of the authorities and the CJP. Following that episode, the organisation accused male police personnel of assaulting young women during a student protest over examination paper leaks, when demonstrators marched towards Parliament.
The CJP alleged that girls as young as 12 had suffered head injuries and had their clothes torn. Given that the organisation draws much of its support from young people and Gen Z, officials may have sought to avoid images of male officers handling its leaders that could lead to further controversy. Deploying women personnel may have helped reduce the potential for such allegations.
HOW DIPKE AND OTHER CJP LEADERS WERE DETAINED
As soon as police boarded the aircraft, Dipke began recording the incident from his window seat. Das was sitting in the middle seat, while Ranka occupied the seat beside him.
Videos recorded inside the plane showed women police officers surrounding the CJP leaders. Dipke can be seen challenging the manner in which the detention was carried out, telling the officers that they could have waited until the passengers had disembarked.
"You can see where the nation is heading. They are here to arrest us directly from the flight. This is something not even Indira Gandhi had done. This is dictatorship," Dipke is heard saying.
"I have come here to be arrested; arrest me," he added while addressing the police personnel. Throughout the exchange, the women officers repeatedly asked Dipke and his colleagues to cooperate. The three leaders were subsequently taken to an undisclosed location.
The CJP had called for a second Jantar Mantar protest, dubbed Jantar Mantar 2.0, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The organisation condemned the detention of its leaders, describing it as "authoritarian".
OVER 400 DETAINED AS DELHI TURNS INTO A FORTRESS
Earlier on Saturday, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee and Ratna Singh, head of the CJP's legal cell, were also detained from their homes to prevent them from attending the protest. More than 400 people have been detained from various parts of the capital so far, as Delhi witnessed a major security lockdown that began overnight.
The Delhi Police had refused permission for the CJP's demonstration, but Dipke decided to proceed with the protest regardless. The move led to an extensive security operation across central Delhi and along the capital's borders with neighbouring states.
