Indian police detain Cockroach Janta Party founder ahead of youth protest

The founder of Indian youth movement, Abhijeet Dipke, and fellow leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained at Delhi airport on Saturday (Oct 10) ahead of a protest demanding the resignation of India's chief election commissioner.

10 Oct 2026 02:24PM (Updated: 10 Oct 2026 02:28PM)

NEW DELHI: Police in the Indian capital Delhi detained the founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), Abhijeet Dipke, on Saturday (Oct 10), ahead of a protest called by the youth movement demanding the resignation of the country’s chief election commissioner, the party said.

Local TV channels reported earlier that police officers met Dipke at the Delhi airport after he arrived from the financial capital Mumbai and asked him to call off the protest as authorities had banned it.

CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were also detained from their flight upon landing, the movement said in a statement.

Separately, CJP's legal team head Ratna Singh claimed in a video statement that she and three other lawyers were being detained, alleging that more than 25 police officers had surrounded their car without explaining why they were being held.

YouTuber and Indian influencer Dhruv Rathee, who had returned from Germany to take part in the youth protests, was detained at his residence in Gurugram on Saturday morning, The Times of India reported.

A police officer told the local media outlet that Rathee was taken into custody after refusing to heed warnings against attending the demonstration.

Central Delhi was placed under tight security on Saturday, with thousands of police and paramilitary personnel deployed, 57 metro stations shut, several long-distance trains cancelled and markets closed ahead of the planned demonstration.

Mobile internet services were also suspended within a 4km radius of the protest site from Friday night to Saturday night.

Delhi Police said on Friday that they had denied permission for the protest, citing a late application and CJP's failure to comply with undertakings made during previous demonstrations. CJP leaders rejected the decision, insisting that protesting was their fundamental right.

The protest, billed by organisers as a campaign to "Save Democracy", seeks the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a revision of voter lists that critics allege favours Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The demonstrations began last week after local media outlet The Indian Express reported that Kumar's deputies had raised objections to the revision process, which saw around 130 million names removed from voter lists. 

Opposition parties have accused the government of manipulating electoral rolls to its advantage, allegations denied by the Election Commission and the BJP.