Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Saturday alleged that he was assaulted and detained by the Delhi Police after chaos broke out at Jantar Mantar following the removal of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk from the protest site. In a post on X, Dipke claimed police launched a crackdown on protesters after Wangchuk, whose indefinite hunger strike entered its 21st day, was taken to a hospital.
"I have been beaten up and put under detention by Delhi Police," Dipke alleged. "Delhi Police is cracking down at Jantar Mantar, beating people up and taking away Sonam sir forcefully," he added. The developments came hours after Wangchuk was shifted to a hospital as doctors expressed concern over his deteriorating health following three weeks of fasting.
The latest allegations follow another claim made by Dipke on Friday night, when he alleged that unidentified individuals attempted to attack Wangchuk during the protest by throwing an object towards him. According to Dipke, the activist escaped unhurt. "Goons tried to attack Sonam sir at Jantar Mantar. An object was thrown at him, but fortunately, he was not hurt," Dipke had said in a statement posted on X.
He had further alleged that he received prior information from a police insider warning that people could be sent to the protest site to create disturbances. Dipke accused the authorities of failing to prevent repeated disruptions to what he described as a peaceful agitation.
"If anything happens to Sonam sir, the government will be responsible as there's clearly a plan to dismantle the peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar," he had claimed, adding that police did not intervene despite multiple incidents of disruption.
As of Saturday, Delhi Police had not issued any official statement confirming or responding to Dipke's allegations regarding either the alleged attack on Wangchuk or the reported detention and use of force against protesters.
The Cockroach Janata Party has been protesting at Jantar Mantar since June 20, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged irregularities in the NEET examination, a judicial probe into the alleged examination scam, and broader reforms to the country's examination system. Wangchuk joined the agitation on June 28 and has remained on an indefinite hunger strike in support of the movement.
