Indian 'Cockroach' Party Leaders Detained After Entering Protest Site

Leaders of India's Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) were detained early Tuesday after entering a heavily guarded protest site and chanting slogans demanding the country's election chief resign over a controversial revision of electoral rolls. Party founder Abhijeet Dipke shared a video showing Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das being taken away from Jantar Mantar in Delhi by police. Footage showed the two, along with others, climbing over police barricades before chanting slogans while holding the Indian flag.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's opponents allege the voter list revision benefits his party, a charge it and the Election Commission reject. There have been days of protests demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. Police have stepped up security across Delhi as demonstrators challenge restrictions on where protests can be held.

Dipke, Das, and Ranka had shared videos showing Das and Ranka entering Jantar Mantar. "You cannot denotify the resistance," Dipke wrote on X. Das also posted a message declaring that the site had been "reclaimed" and that they were being detained. It was not immediately clear where police had taken the leaders. Ranka later appeared on an Instagram live broadcast from a police bus alongside other detainees where they appeared cheerful and said they would not back down.

The detentions occurred a day after the federal home ministry announced that Jantar Mantar, long associated with public protests in Delhi, would no longer be a designated protest venue. Authorities identified three alternative locations where demonstrations can be held with permission.

Before the decision, the CJP had met Delhi Police officials to seek permission for a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar and had warned that it would announce further demonstrations if it received no response. "30 mins after we went to Delhi Police asking for a date when we can go to Jantar Mantar, Jantar Mantar was de-notified as a protest site," Ranka had earlier posted on X.

Most of the party's leadership had been in Delhi in recent days. Dipke had travelled to his hometown in Maharashtra after the death of his grandmother. He was among several CJP leaders detained ahead of a planned demonstration on Saturday and was released the next day. The CJP had called for a protest at Jantar Mantar on Saturday, but authorities imposed extensive security restrictions across the capital to prevent demonstrators from reaching the site. Several metro stations were closed, train services were disrupted, and thousands of police and paramilitary personnel were deployed. Over the weekend, the police detained and released thousands of people, including several journalists. Some videos and photos from the protest show police dragging people, including women, by force and pushing them into buses.