Delhi Police detained Abhijeet Dipke — founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) — along with Neha Bora, president of the All India Students' Association (AISA), on the morning of Friday, 16 October, ahead of a planned 'Lehra Do Tiranga' rally scheduled to take place at Connaught Place.

Abhijeet Dipke was taken into custody at his Jhandewalan residence, while officers brought in Neha Bora from the Mandi House area of central Delhi.

A gathering at Central Park, convened under the CJP's direction, formed part of the party's broader push for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to step down over the handling of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Earlier that day, Abhijeet had raised questions about the scale of security personnel deployed along the Tiranga yatra route, directing a query toward Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking why the national flag march was being impeded.

On Friday, two notices from police were delivered to Abhijeet. Under the Delhi Police Act, a separate order barred him from entering Central Park, citing active restrictions at the location. A second document, originating from South West Delhi Police, made reference to a prior episode in which Abhijeet, Ashutosh Ranka, and Saurav Das had been held in preventive custody at the airport before being brought before a court.

A court order placed a twelve-month ban on behaviour liable to disturb public order. When officers spoke with Abhijeet, he was informed that travel to New Delhi would not be permitted. The officer's words — "Hum aapko detain kar rahe hain" — were followed by an instruction barring travel to New Delhi, informing the individual that he was being placed under detention.

Police stated that no authorisation for the planned Tiranga Yatra had been issued by the New Delhi Municipal Council. The formal notice delivered to Abhijeet stated that any assembly or procession held outside permitted boundaries would leave participants open to prosecution. Compliance with the Flag Code of India was also set out as a requirement within the notice.

A post on X from Bora's social media administrator indicated that she had been taken to an undisclosed location without her phone. A post timestamped at 8.39 pm carried a demand from the account administrator that Delhi Police reveal the location where she was being detained.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin voiced opposition to the detentions and called for information on the whereabouts of the two named protest leaders. Through a formal declaration, Stalin stated that holding individuals without disclosing their location ran counter to legal standards and basic humanitarian principles.

Calls for the detainees' release grew alongside demands that authorities permit demonstrations to proceed without interference. Stalin argued that any effort to suppress the movement would ultimately reinforce it, and that calling for Gyanesh Kumar's resignation represented the only course available to the Union government under the circumstances.