Delhi Police detained six people on Saturday to prevent a possible confrontation between two groups during the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar. As mentioned by officials, the detentions were made as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order after police received inputs about the possibility of tensions between supporters and opposers of the online movement.
The protest, led by CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, drew hundreds of participants, mostly students and young professionals, who gathered at Jantar Mantar demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged irregularities in several examinations and recruitment tests.
Officials stated that the six individuals were taken into preventive custody when they were found attempting to create a disturbance near the protest site. Fortunately, the situation remained under control, and no incidents were reported.
The protest witnessed participation from students wearing cockroach masks and carrying flowers. Several school students attended the gathering along with their parents. Participants raised slogans seeking accountability over alleged irregularities in examinations and recruitment processes.
You can remove our social media posts, but not us: Dipke
Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the online movement Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), criticised the government for focusing on the organisation's social media activity rather than addressing their demands.
"My friends, this is a long struggle. It has been a month since we started demanding Pradhan's resignation on social media, but these individuals are so shameless that instead of taking action, they have been focused on other distractions, like hacking our accounts and getting our posts deleted. You may be able to delete our posts, but you cannot erase us from this space," Dipke stated during his address to the crowd, which energetically supported his words.
He also mentioned that activist Sonam Wangchuk would be joining the protest shortly and thanked him for his support.
Recalling his arrival at Indira Gandhi International Airport that morning, Dipke said that just before his flight was about to land, he felt as though he was living his last moments of freedom. "I was fully prepared to sacrifice my freedom for this cause," he said.
A heavy security presence is being maintained at Jantar Mantar and other key locations in the national capital. Senior police officers are monitoring the situation on the ground, and barricades have been erected around the protest site to regulate the movement of participants and ensure separation between rival groups.
CJP emerged as a youth-led online movement following allegations of irregularities in several examinations and recruitment tests, including NEET, CUET, CBSE-linked examinations, and SSC recruitment processes. Over the past month, the group has mobilised support through social media campaigns demanding greater transparency and accountability in the conduct of examinations.
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