New Delhi: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leader Abhijeet Dipke and two other party leaders, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, have been placed under preventive arrest after being detained inside an aircraft at Delhi airport on Saturday, police confirmed on Sunday. The three will be produced before an Executive Magistrate at Delhi Cantt Police Station, a senior police officer said.

The confirmation comes a day after the CJP raised concerns over the whereabouts of the three leaders, alleging that neither their families nor party representatives had been informed about their detention for more than 12 hours.

According to police, the three were placed under preventive arrest after being detained on Saturday morning when their flight from Mumbai landed in the national capital. They had arrived in Delhi ahead of a planned demonstration at Jantar Mantar demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.

Police said elaborate security arrangements had been put in place across the capital to prevent protesters from reaching Jantar Mantar.

CJP had raised concerns over leaders' whereabouts

The CJP had accused Delhi Police of withholding information about the detained leaders, claiming that their families and legal representatives were left without any official communication regarding their location.

"It's been 12 hours. No information. No accountability," the CJP said, adding, "You cannot make people disappear and call it democracy."

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CJP leader Ajinkya Shinde also issued a statement questioning the police over the whereabouts of Dipke and the two other activists and demanding their immediate release.

The police confirmation on Sunday came amid mounting criticism of the detentions and concerns over the treatment of protesters in the national capital.

Detained ahead of protest against CEC Gyanesh Kumar

The three CJP leaders were detained ahead of Saturday's planned protest at Jantar Mantar against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The party had called for Kumar's resignation, accusing the Election Commission of India (ECI) of irregularities in the electoral roll revision exercise.

The demonstration was planned amid a wider confrontation between Opposition parties and the Election Commission over allegations of "vote chori" and concerns surrounding the SIR process.

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Delhi Police deployed extensive security arrangements on Saturday and prevented protesters from reaching the designated protest venue.

Several Opposition leaders were also detained during the police action, including Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and other party leaders. They were subsequently released.

The preventive arrest of Dipke, Ranka and Das marks a further development in the police action against the CJP leadership, with their production before the Executive Magistrate scheduled for Sunday.