New Delhi, Oct 17: Delhi Police on Saturday registered multiple First Information Reports (FIRs) over violations of prohibitory orders in Connaught Place and other parts of New Delhi on Friday. Officials said action would be taken against repeat offenders. According to police sources, the FIRs have been registered for violations of orders issued under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
Police said announcements were made asking people to disperse, but a crowd gathered around Connaught Place despite the restrictions. The action comes after protesters held a Tiranga rally outside Central Park in Connaught Place on Friday amid heightened security in the national Capital. Meanwhile, Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke was arrested in connection with the party’s ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ rally at Central Park.
He is scheduled to be produced before a Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) court on Saturday. “Abhijeet is arrested and will be produced before the SEM court. His location is still unknown, and lawyers haven’t met him,” CJP’s head of legal affairs, Ratna Singh, said in a post on X.
All India Students’ Association (AISA) leader Neha Bora was also detained near Mandi House as police tightened security across central Delhi. She was subsequently released, according to reports. The detentions came amid tensions following the arrest and judicial remand of two CJP co-convenors, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka.
They were sent to five days of judicial custody after allegedly entering Jantar Mantar and unfurling the National Flag on October 13, a day after the designated protest site was de-notified. This was the second time in a week that Dipke had been detained by Delhi Police. He was earlier taken into custody shortly after arriving in the national Capital from Mumbai to participate in a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged manipulation of electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Ahead of Friday’s proposed rally, police had served Dipke a notice stating that Connaught Place was not a designated protest site and that the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) had not granted permission for the proposed Tiranga Yatra. The notice, issued under Section 163 of the BNSS, warned that organising the march or assembling a crowd would violate the prohibitory orders in force in the area.
During an interaction with police personnel at his residence, Dipke questioned the grounds for his detention, asking, “What kind of accusation have you levelled against me?” When told that he could not travel to New Delhi and was being detained, he questioned which law he had violated. Police clarified that waving the National Flag was not prohibited.
However, they said organising an unauthorised procession or gathering a crowd in violation of restrictions could invite legal action. Dipke was also reminded of the provisions of the Flag Code concerning the respectful display of the Tricolour.
IANS