In brief
Leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) were arrested early Tuesday after they entered the heavily guarded Jantar Mantar protest site in Delhi. The detentions followed a de‑notification of Jantar Mantar as a designated protest venue, with police designating three new locations. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke released footage of his aides being taken away, while opposition parties marched to the Supreme Court to challenge the Election Commission's voter‑roll revision. Police have stepped up security across Delhi, detaining thousands, including journalists, amid escalating pressure for electoral reforms.
Police detained three leaders of India’s Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) early Tuesday after they breached barricades at the historic Jantar Mantar protest site in Delhi, authorities said.
Abhijeet Dipke, the party’s founder, posted a short video on X showing Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das clutching Indian flags as police dragged them away. The footage, circulating on social media, shows the pair attempting to climb over the makeshift barricades before chanting slogans demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The detention came a day after the federal Home Ministry announced that Jantar Mantar, long a symbol of dissent, would no longer be recognized as a protest venue. Three alternative sites have been identified, but the move has deepened tensions between protesters and the police, who have intensified security across the capital.
Police said they had closed several metro stations, disrupted train services and deployed thousands of officers and paramilitary personnel to prevent demonstrators from reaching the site. The crackdown also saw thousands arrested—including journalists—amid protests over a controversial revision of electoral rolls that allegedly removed tens of millions of names from voter lists.
While the CJP called for a protest, the wider opposition coalition marched from Connaught Place on Monday to the Supreme Court, filing a petition that challenges the Election Commission’s revisions on the grounds that they could disenfranchise eligible voters. The Supreme Court appointment of independent experts to review the changes has been criticized as a potential bias.
The CJP, which erupted from satirical commentary in 2025, has evolved into a pressure group tackling issues from unemployment to alleged exam irregularities. Their latest activism culminated in the resignation of former Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan earlier this year.
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