Three Cockroach Janata Party activists Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained aboard Air India flight AI 2428, after it landed in Delhi on Saturday (October 10, 2026), ahead of the group’s proposed protest at Jantar Mantar, catching even the airline by surprise, it is reliably learnt.
In what airport security personnel described as an unusual move, Delhi Police personnel, accompanied by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officials, boarded the aircraft and took the activists into custody from their seats. The CISF is responsible for airport security and access control at most major airports in India. Keep track: Anti-CEC protest LIVE updates Air India has now written to the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), seeking clarity on the applicable guidelines in such situations, the circumstances under which police personnel were permitted to board the aircraft and the apparent lack of advance coordination with the airline. The detentions took place shortly after the aircraft arrived in Delhi, with police informing the activists that permission for their proposed protest had been denied. As the aircraft taxied in, Delhi Police and CISF officials were already preparing to board the aircraft, with a ramp positioned to facilitate access. However, the procedure and applicable guidelines governing the entry of police personnel into an aircraft as part of such an operation remain unclear.
2023, airlines control access to aircraft, according to Aircraft (Security) Rules.
