'Cockroach Party' protesters vow to return after hundreds detained in Delhi

Chaos erupted in India's capital New Delhi on Saturday as police detained hundreds of protesters, journalists and lawyers during demonstrations targeting the Election Commission's move to drop some 130 million names from the voter list.

Police and paramilitary forces enforced a lockdown in much of the city with at least 45 metro stations closed and more than 240 trains to New Delhi and Nizamuddin railway stations cancelled. 

Internet was cut around the Jantar Mantar protest site and demonstrators reported that anyone attempting to reach the location was detained or turned away.

"I along with my friends left in the morning to protest against the election commissioner. There was no way to reach Jantar Mantar, so we decided to assemble around Gurdwara Bangla Sahib," Aditi Subramanian told the ABC.

"The police with no accompanied female officers detained all of us and threw us in the bus violently … with no internet connectivity. It has been so difficult to verify who has been taken where," she said.

Social media and television footage showed unarmed protesters being carried by their arms and legs into police buses and journalists being violently detained despite showing their press credentials.

Demonstrators, organised by the "Cockroach" youth movement, were demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a revision of the voter list that critics say disproportionately benefits Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"We are concerned by reports of mass detentions in India of demonstrators, protest leaders, members of civil society organisations, lawyers and journalists, before and during today's large-scale demonstrations in Delhi," UN Human Rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said in a statement.

The statement called on Indian authorities to "ensure that the right to peaceful assembly is fully respected and fulfilled".

It also called for "utmost restraint in response to peaceful protesters" and for those "arbitrarily detained" to be "immediately and unconditionally released".

About 130 million voters were kicked off the registrar, which is more than four times the population of Australia.

"I came last night from Haryana (state) to demand Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. We will not let him fool the people anymore. We will come again tomorrow," protester Pramod Kumar told the ABC after being detained by police.

"If you go anywhere in Delhi today you will see police everywhere, carrying sticks and batons and detaining anyone of us who goes close to Jantar Mantar. 

"The situation is very tense," he said.

At New Delhi airport, police also detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke and senior leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka after their flight from Mumbai landed, the group said in a statement.

"If you think that by threatening us with jail, you can stop us, then that is not going to happen. We are ready to go to the jail," Mr Dipke said as officers moved through the plane to take him into custody.

"But we will fight to save the democracy of this country. And we will make sure Gyanesh Kumar resigns as he has deleted more than 130 million votes and has snatched the voting rights of the people."

Delhi police did not return the ABC's calls but in a statement they said that protesters had not secured the required permission.

"Delhi being capital of the fastest growing economy of the country cannot be brought to halt every time there are protests,"

the statement said.

"Delhi Police has to look after well-being of citizens and economic interests alongside the interests of those who want to protest."

Public anger towards the revised voter list has been growing since the Indian Express newspaper reported in September that two election commissioners had questioned and disagreed with Mr Kumar over removing millions of names from records.

Mr Kumar has not commented but the Election Commission and the BJP have denied allegations of wrongdoing. 

The commission said the removals relate to entries identified during the draft revision process and that any eligible voter incorrectly deleted can re-enrol.

BJP national spokesman and MP Sambit Patra in a statement said the anarchists had failed.

"We have been seeing that a few anarchist forces have been spreading anarchy in a corner of Delhi for the past few days," the statement said.

"But today the anarchists have failed. 

"The flop show of anarchist elements has completely collapsed."

Opposition parties say the voter deletions affected the outcome of some recent state elections won by the BJP, and have cast a shadow on elections in the world's largest democracy.

"We are going to defend our Constitution. We are going to protect the voice of the Indian people. And we are going to ensure that what was done to India over the last 10-15 years will never, ever be done again," Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi posted on X.