An Indian executive magistrate on Sunday ordered the release of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) convener Abhijeet Dipke and co-conveners Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, nearly 24 hours after they were detained by Delhi Police.
The court, however, imposed a condition barring them from breaching the peace for one year.
The three were detained inside their plane minutes after it landed in Delhi. Flight AI 2428 landed at 10:18am and was moved to remote bay R12 after the airport’s Airside Operations Control Centre asked air traffic control to park it there, people familiar with the matter told Hindustan Times (HT) earlier.
Airport officials said the parking bay was changed at the last moment, with police and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel waiting there before the aircraft arrived.
Dipke, Das and Ranka were first seen after their detention when they were taken to a court in Delhi. Their first visuals after release also surfaced on Sunday morning, showing them smiling, talking and waving at the camera.
Their release came hours after YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was freed late on Saturday. He had been detained and prevented from participating in the CJP’s protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
According to officials, Rathee was released at 3am and handed over to his family. He had been apprehended from his residence in Kendriya Vihar society in Gurugram’s Sector 56 at around 7:30am on Saturday.
“He can be detained again, or further legal action might be taken if he tries to go to Jantar Mantar despite prohibitory orders,” an unnamed police officer was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Under the Bharatiya Nyaya Suraksha Sanhita, a person can be temporarily detained for a maximum of 24 hours before being produced before a magistrate, unless the detention falls under special laws.
Around 7,000 people were detained across Delhi on Saturday as police cracked down on the CJP’s attempted protest demanding the CEC’s resignation. While most detainees were released on Saturday, the party’s leadership and Rathee remained in detention until the early hours of Sunday.
The release of the CJP team comes after the pressure group announced that its agitation would continue on Sunday, as Delhi Police maintained its crackdown across New Delhi.