AISA chief Neha Bora being detained by the police during a protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, in New Delhi on October 16, 2026.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Delhi Police placed Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke under preventive arrest ahead of the ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ march at Connaught Place on Friday evening, while All India Students’ Association (AISA) president Neha Bora was released early on Saturday after being detained from the protest march in Mandi House.
Anti-CEC protest LIVE updates- October 17, 2026
Mr. Dipke was detained minutes before the scheduled march when he stepped out of the residence where he was staying in Jhandewalan, Karol Bagh, to join the gathering at Central Park. The police initiated action against him under Sections 126 (security for keeping the peace) and 170 (preventive arrest) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). He is scheduled to be produced before the Special Executive Magistrate court on Saturday, the police said.
Mr. Dipke along with CJP members Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka had earlier been arrested from their seats aboard an aircraft ahead of the CJP’s October 10 protest at Jantar Mantar when they landed from Mumbai, and subsequently released on a peace bond.
Mr Das and Mr Ranka were arrested earlier this week on charges including breach of bond, trespass and obstructing public servants after they reached Jantar Mantar and waved the national flag with 12 other supporters. They are lodged in a high security prison in Tihar Jail. Another member, Ajinkya Shinde, was bound down under a peace bond.
Meanwhile, Ms. Bora was released early on Saturday after completing the formalities related to her detention under Section 65 of the Delhi Police Act, the police said.
AISA alleged that Ms. Bora was moved between multiple locations across Delhi for nearly five hours after her detention before being taken to the R.K. Puram police station. Lawyers who reached the station around midnight were not allowed to meet her, the organisation said.
Former AISA leader N. Sai Balaji, who is currently associated with the CPI(ML), said Ms. Bora’s release followed 12 hours of protests and outrage across the country.
“Our fight for demanding resignation of Gyanesh Kumar will continue. SIR will have to be rolled back and Modi government cannot escape from accountability for destroying ECI and its autonomy,” he said, referring to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Published – October 17, 2026 07:01 am IST
