Centre held two meetings before notices, detentions across states to stop CJP protesters reaching Delhi

Centre's crackdown surrounding the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protest in Delhi followed a top-level meeting between the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Secretary, state DGPs and certain specific police commissioners on October 4. The instructions included preventing protesters from reaching Delhi, issuing notices, detaining people if necessary and examining funding sources, according to a report by The Indian Express. A follow-up meeting was conducted on October 8 to check preparedness.

“Accordingly, the Home Secretary held a meeting on October 4 and later on October 8 to check preparedness. If it was found that a particular person who had earlier been to these protests had managed to leave their hometown, the agencies alerted MHA and the local police unit was asked to respond to how the lapse took place,” reported Express, quoting anonymous sources.

In Maharashtra, the CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke's Abhijit Dipke's home town was in special focus. Authorities reportedly expected substantial participation from the state, including support from Left organisations.

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Following the meeting, a “confidential letter” was sent from the DGP’s office to police units across the state. The letter was signed by Lakhmi Gautam, Inspector General of Police (Law and Order), and circulated to police commissionerates and district police chiefs. It asks tyana pravrutta kara” (dissuade them from attending the Jantar Mantar event) and, for that, “yogya te pratibandhak karvahi karave” (take necessary precautionary measures). Since then, would-be protestors have been sent notices, and around 200 people were detained on Friday.

“It was believed that the earlier protests in Delhi that led to Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation were not given much importance, due to which massive crowds managed to gather there,” reported the Indian Express, citing anonymous sources. Delhi Police asked the MHA to ensure that protesters did not reach Delhi, as authorities feared it would be difficult to manage a large gathering in the capital.