The Mumbai Police have registered a first information report against leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party, including Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka, and Saurav Das, for a protest held on September 30. The protest aimed to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The Mumbai Police registered a first information report (FIR) against Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, convenors Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, and over 400 unidentified individuals for a protest they held on September 30. According to Hindustan Times, the protest was called by the political campaign to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Dipke had sought permission to demonstrate at Shivaji Park, but the police denied it on September 27. In response, he announced a ‘jail bharo andolan’, or mass voluntary arrest movement. However, no one was detained during the protest in Mumbai on Friday. The demonstration coincided with protests held at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, where over 700 persons were detained.
The protesters have raised concerns about the functioning of the Election Commission and its handling of the special intensive revision of electoral rolls. On Saturday, the Mumbai Police said that organisers of the protest in the city had been booked under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Maharashtra Police Act pertaining to unlawful assembly and wilful disobedience of lawful order issued by public servant, reported PTI. The police have named Cockroach Janta Party members Pranav Ahire, Ajinkya Shinde, Afreen Nawaz, Saumya Korde, Ankit Bharadwaj, Vijay Malangi and Yogesh Ingle in the FIR.
In its order denying permission to hold the protest on Friday, the police stated that Shivaji Park can only be used for sports, as per a 2013 Bombay High Court order. The police also cited ‘noise pollution’ and potential traffic congestion affecting hospitals in the vicinity as reasons for denial.
In response to the denied permission, Dipke shared a video of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde addressing a gathering at the venue in January and questioned how he had been granted permission for his event. The Cockroach Janta Party has announced that it will launch a march to Delhi and hold a protest at Jantar Mantar on October 10 if Kumar does not resign.
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