Delhi protest detentions: CJP, AISA seek leaders’ whereabouts

March halted amid heavy security

A planned flag march to Delhi’s Connaught Place was halted by police action on Friday, October 16, with CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and All India Students’ Association (AISA) president Neha Bora among a reported 150 people detained. Their organisations subsequently demanded information about where the two leaders were being held and alleged that access to lawyers had been denied.

According to India Today, nearly 2,000 people assembled in response to Dipke’s call for the ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ march, whose stated objective was to reach Central Park and unfurl the national flag. CJP and AISA have also been demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The account describes extensive security around Connaught Place, with Central Park cordoned off and Rapid Action Force personnel positioned inside. Police and paramilitary personnel formed a barrier against protesters trying to reach the park, while additional forces were stationed nearby.

Dipke detained before reaching Connaught Place

At about 4.50 pm, Dipke emerged from the Karol Bagh residence of Anish Gawande, a leader of the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party. He was wearing a white T-shirt with an image of Mahatma Gandhi and had the Tricolour draped around him.

The report says police personnel had spent several hours beforehand getting Dipke to sign documents restricting him from proceeding towards the protest venue without lawful permission. A brief confrontation shortly before 5 pm was followed by his detention.

A separate account from PTI, cited in the report and attributed to police sources, placed Dipke’s detention at Jhandewalan while he was travelling towards Connaught Place. The supplied material does not reproduce the documents he signed or identify a specific statutory provision used for his preventive detention.

Bora redirects protesters towards Mandi House

Bora continued with the mobilisation after Dipke was taken into custody. She attempted to get through the line of police and paramilitary personnel blocking access to Central Park, before redirecting the protest towards Mandi House at around 5.20 pm.

She was detained soon afterwards. The PTI account attributed to police sources also identified Mandi House as the location of her detention. The report describes the remaining protest dispersing following her detention amid a substantial deployment of Central Armed Police Forces and Delhi Police personnel.

The reported total of 150 detainees includes both Dipke and Bora. The supplied account does not provide a complete list of those detained, details of any subsequent releases, or information about whether criminal charges were brought against either leader.

Organisations raise custody and legal-access concerns

CJP asked Delhi Police to disclose Dipke’s whereabouts. In a post on X, it argued that young protesters were entitled to the same constitutional protections as other Indian citizens and challenged the justification for detaining someone carrying the national flag.

AISA issued a series of claims about Bora’s custody. It initially said she was being held alone at the Anti-Narcotics Task Force facility in Mangolpuri. In a later post, it alleged that she was being moved to an undisclosed destination in a vehicle with unlawfully darkened windows.

Former AISA president N Sai Balaji separately questioned why plain-clothes personnel had detained Bora alone in a bus. He said her last known location pointed to the anti-narcotics facility in Mangolpuri, but that the police station had said she was not there.

An earlier AISA statement referred to two people in civilian clothing travelling in a van with Bora who, the association said, were not detainees. It sought confirmation of her safety and questioned whether people outside the police force had been involved. These remain allegations by AISA and Balaji, not independently established findings.

Opposition seeks release; police response not supplied

Opposition leaders, including DMK president M K Stalin, called for the detained leaders’ immediate release and urged the Union government not to suppress peaceful demonstrations. That characterisation of the protest represents the Opposition’s position.

The supplied report includes police-source information about the detention locations but no substantive police response to allegations concerning legal access, Bora’s movements or the involvement of people in civilian clothes. It also does not establish the leaders’ final custody locations. Those questions remained unresolved in the available account.