Mumbai: Police registered an FIR against Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) for allegedly holding an unlawful assembly, raising slogans, disrupting the smooth flow of traffic and using loudspeakers without permission during a protest at Shivaji Park on Friday.
CJP supporters were protesting, demanding the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar over concerns surrounding
Election Commission and SIR.
According to the FIR, around 400 to 500 unidentified supporters and protesters, including CJP members Ajinkya Shinde, Pranay Ahire, Ashutosh Ranka, Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das, Afreen Nawaz, Soumya Korde, Ankit Bhardwaj, Vijay Malangi and Yogesh Ingale, gathered at the protest venue at 2 pm and stayed put until 7 pm. According to the FIR, the protesters gathered on a public road, allegedly obstructed traffic and raised slogans, leading to a law-and-order situation. Police also alleged that loudspeakers were used to address the gathering without the required permission.
The FIR has been registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including those relating to unlawful assembly and disobedience of a lawful order, along with provisions of the Maharashtra Police Act.
CJP organised a ‘Jail Bharo’ protest on Friday, demanding the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, amid reports of differences within Election Commission.
Despite heavy police deployment and denial of formal permission for the protest at Shivaji Park, a large number of citizens and supporters gathered at the venue.
Meanwhile, Shivaji Park resident and advocate Siddhi Deolekar too filed a police complaint against Abhijeet Dipke and others, alleging illegal gathering and protest. Deolekar said she lodged the complaint against Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka, Saurav Das and Ratna Singh, alleging that they proceeded with the protest and attempted to gather a large crowd despite not having any required permissions.
