India news: 'Cockroach' party founder Abhijeet Dipke under preventive arrest

Skip next section What you need to know

What you need to know

• India's 'Cockroach' movement founder Abhijeet Dipke was arrested after his detention over a fresh protest call in the capital
• Student leader Neha Bora has been released from detention
• Six US lawmakers have urged Marco Rubio to bring up India protest crackdown during his upcoming visit

Here is our rolling coverage from India on Saturday, October 17:

Tired of missing our real-time updates? Click here to add us as a Preferred Source on Google. Then tap the "Star" or "Preferred" to keep DW News at the top of your feed.

Skip next section Student leader Neha Bora released from detention

October 17, 2026

Student leader Neha Bora released from detention

All India Students' Association (AISA) President Neha Bora, who was also detained during the latest protest in New Delhi on Friday was released later in the night. 

Bora has emerged as a prominent face in the protests against India's top poll official. 

Speaking to the media after her release, Bora called for Dipke and other protesters to be released, saying that they had been "illegally detained".

"They are ordinary citizens demanding accountability and their right to vote. Carrying out such illegal detentions and keeping people at the police station overnight makes no sense at all," Bora said. 

A widespread review exercise — called Special Intensive Revision (SIR) — has struck off over 130 million names from India's electoral rolls since it began last year.

Opposition leaders and critics say that those removed from the voter lists include a large proportion of minority voters. They accuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist BJP of using the exercise as a tool to secure future electoral gains.

The neutrality of the Election Commission of India (ECI) is being questioned.

The ECI denies favoring any party. It says the SIR removes deceased, relocated and duplicate voters and also helps in preventing the inclusion of "foreign illegal immigrants." 

Youth being made 'pawns' — BJP

Modi's party has slammed its opponents for undermining democracy and has denounced the protests as attempts to create "anarchy". 

BJP's Rajnath Singh — who is also India's defense minister — addressed the protests at a press conference on Friday. 

Singh accused the opposition, led by the Congress party, of wanting to bring a "regime change along the lines of Bangladesh" and using Indian youth as "pawns in the politics of disorder."

"It appears that the Congress and its political allies, both directly and through their affiliated organisations, are attempting to channel the energy of young people not into constructive activities and nation-building, but into instruments of political confrontation and the spread of chaos," he said.

https://p.dw.com/p/5OLr3

Skip next section CJP's Dipke arrested after detention — reports

October 17, 2026

CJP's Dipke arrested after detention — reports

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) Founder Abhijeet Dipke has been arrested, following his detention on Friday when he stepped out to participate in a rally he had called in New Delhi, media reports said.

Dipke was arrested to ‌prevent a ⁠breach ⁠of the peace and will be taken before a Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) court later today, news agencies ANI and PTI reported. 

CJP legal affairs head Ratna Singh also said that Dipke had been arrested, adding that he would appear before the SEM court in central Delhi's Mandir Marg at 12 p.m. (630 UTC).

Singh claimed that Dipke's lawyers had not met him. 

The 'Cockroach' movement said early on Saturday that they did not know where their founder had been detained, calling his detention a "kidnapping."

"Until now, neither his parents nor his lawyers and not the CJP team have been given any updates about his location," the CJP said on X, as it published a video of CJP leader Ajinkya Shinde asking about Dipke's whereabouts. 

Dipke was detained publicly on Friday as he left the house in Jhandewalan where he was staying to take part in CJP's 'Lehra Do Tiranga' (Wave the tricolor) protest rally in Connaught Place.

Videos of his detention showed the CJP founder being told by a police official that he was being placed under "preventive detention" before he was taken to a police car.

Dipke was seen displaying India's flag as police and media personnel surrounded him. Some supporters were seen trying to block the police vehicle from driving away with Dipke. 

Just hours earlier, a group of Delhi Police officials had visited the 31-year-old at the Jhandewalan residence and served him a notice barring the Friday protest. 

The Delhi Police had previously reiterated that Section 163 of India's criminal procedure law, which prohibits any form of assembly or protest, was in force in the Connaught Place area.

"The manner in which he was picked up from right outside his residence, no information about his whereabouts, and the fact that even his lawyers have been unable to meet him raise serious concerns about due process and fundamental rights," Singh wrote on X.

Even after Dipke's detention, hundreds of protesters turned up in Connaught Place defying the heavy security deployment. The protesters were seen waving the Indian national flag as part of the CJP's 'Tricolor' rally. According to police, some 150 protesters were detained during the demonstrations.

The fresh protests came after CJP co-conveners Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das were sent to a five-day detention in jail on Wednesday for alleged violation of prohibitory orders and breach of a peace bond after they attempted a demonstration.  They too were carrying the Indian tricolor and the flag has since been at the center of CJP's campaign.

The Indian flag "belongs to the 1.3 billion people of this country and not the Delhi police. We will wave it where we want!" the movement has said.

Dipke, Das and Ranka were earlier detained on October 10 from a plane as they arrived in the capital for a protest march calling for the resignation of India's Chief Election Commionser Gyanesh Kumar over alleged manipulation of voter lists.

 They were released after nearly 24 hours.

https://p.dw.com/p/5OLpm

Skip next section Welcome to our coverage

October 17, 2026

Welcome to our coverage

This is Dharvi Vaid Dhulia from DW's studio in New Delhi, bringing you the weekend edition of the India blog, where we break down all the biggest headlines that are creating a buzz in the country. 

The world's largest democracy has seen almost daily protests since the start of October. The youth-led 'Cockroach' movement, opposition parties, student organizations and civil society members are calling for India's election chief to step down over a sweeping revision of voter rolls that they say benefits Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

On Friday, another protest called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) at a key business district in the heart of Delhi culminated in detentions. 

CJP Founder Abhijeet Dipke was taken away in a police car even before he could get to the protest location. It was the second time that Dipke was detained in less than a week. 

Reports now say that the 'Cockroach' founder has been arrested following his detention, and is due to appear before a Special Executive Magistrate court today.

With protests being prohibited and demonstrations ending in detentions, the stir over accountability and electoral reform has also sparked a debate over the public's right to protest. 

Meanwhile, a group of Democratic lawmakers in the US have called on Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is visiting India next week, to raise with Indian officials the alleged wrongful detentions and excessive use of force during the student protests in New Delhi and other parts of the country.