On Saturday, the Cockroach Janta Party reported that police detained three of its members — founder Abhijeet Dipke along with spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka — from a plane at Delhi airport shortly after it landed. Dipke and those travelling with him arrived at the national capital's airport at 10:17 am, having travelled there for a planned demonstration at Jantar Mantar.

The detentions took place ahead of a Congress party-organised demonstration at Jantar Mantar, where participants intended to challenge Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over contested changes to electoral rolls under the Special Intensive Revision process, including modifications to Form 6, the document through which voters apply for registration.

The CJP posted footage of the episode on X. Dipke had noted beforehand that he had anticipated the possibility of being taken into custody upon his arrival, and expressed that no person held any power to intimidate him. Speaking to a news channel upon his arrival, Dipke conveyed that police had been taking people into custody and that those around him expected to face the same treatment, noting that a number of individuals had already been detained before his return.

The Cockroach Janta Party issued a statement describing the detention of Dipke, Saurav Das, and Ranka — taken off their flight on arrival in Delhi — as an act of authoritarianism. The party further alleged that the move by Delhi Police had been coordinated in advance to prevent those individuals from reaching the protest venue before the day's planned demonstrations got under way.

The CJP's statement characterised the detention of Dipke, Das, and Ranka as a violation of freedom of movement and called for their release without conditions or delay.

Ahead of the demonstration, the party announced through its official social media accounts that Ratna Singh — who leads its legal wing — had also been detained. A video circulated on social media in which Singh described officers arriving at her home that morning, with those on the premises telling them she was not there. In her account, the officers produced no paperwork when documentation was requested, conveying instead that a directive from higher-ranking officials had authorised her detention.

A post on social media from the CJP indicated that Singh remained confined within a vehicle, with roughly 35 police personnel — among them a DCP — positioned around it.

Officers from Delhi Police took YouTuber Dhruv Rathee into custody at his Gurugram home in the hours before the protest got under way. Police also stopped Kavya Karnatac, a content creator, at Dhaula Kuan, preventing her from travelling onward to the CJP protest location. In a video posted to a platform, Karnatac disputed the grounds for her detention, stating that she had been alone rather than part of any gathering and had not acted unlawfully.