Indian police detain ‘cockroach’ founder, student leaders ahead of Delhi rally
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The youth-led Cockroach Janta Party has called for a rally in New Delhi’s central business district.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Police warned Cockroach movement founder Abhijeet Dipke not to hold an Oct 16 flag protest in New Delhi, after earlier rallies and arrests over the election chief’s resignation.
- The youth-led CJP and allies say voter list revisions, with more than 130 million voters deleted, favour the BJP. The Election Commission denies bias and says wrongly deleted voters can re-enrol.
- Security was tightened, the park was closed, and traders sought a court stop. The protest has become a major challenge for Modi, while ministers call it opposition-led unrest.
AI generated
NEW DELHI – Police detained India’s “Cockroach” movement founder Abhijeet Dipke, student leaders and supporters on Oct 16 as hundreds poured into central Delhi, waving the national flag and demanding the resignation of India’s election chief.
The youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), opposition groups, and student organisations have held almost daily protests in October demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over a revision of voter lists that critics say favours Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
More than 130 million voters were deleted during the revision but the Election Commission has denied favouring any party and said wrongly deleted voters can re-enrol. The BJP has accused rivals of trying to undermine democracy by wrongly questioning legitimate electoral processes.
Dipke called the protest on Oct 16 in support of two CJP leaders detained and sent to jail this week for five days for demonstrating at a protest site in violation of a ban.
The group and left-wing students groups had urged supporters to gather at the Central Park in New Delhi’s busy Connaught Place shopping and food district on the evening of Oct 16 to wave and hoist the national flag.
Police say they warned movement leader against protesting
Dipke said police visited him and served a notice saying the group was engaging in “unlawful activities and inciting people”.
“Don’t we even have the freedom to hoist our own tricolour in our own nation?” he said in a statement.
The notice said that prohibitory orders were in effect in Connaught Place and no permission had been given for a rally, news agency ANI reported, citing police sources.
The notice also said that legal action would be taken if Dipke went to the location, ANI said.
Delhi Police did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Don’t join protests, police warn
Dipke was detained as he stepped out of a house in central Delhi, with police hauling him into a police car and driving away after a brief argument.
Student activist Neha Bora, a prominent face of the protests, was also detained as she tried to reach Connaught Place with dozens of supporters.
Senior police officer Sachin Sharma told Reuters that Dipke and Bora had been taken into preventive detention.
“Abhijeet is detained by Delhi Police,” CJP posted on X. “This government is so scared of the youth waving national flag.”
Earlier on Oct 16, police had met Dipke and warned him against going ahead with the protest.
Security was stepped up, with hundreds of police in riot gear fanning out across central Delhi. The park was shut by the civic authorities.
Nevertheless, nearly 500 protesters managed to reach Connaught Place in groups and protested in about half a dozen places around the Central Park, waving flags and shouting slogans. A few were detained and taken away in a police vehicle.
“If waving the tricolour in the country has become a crime then I am happy to go to jail,” said Saurav Kumar, a data analyst, before he was detained.
“The government not giving us the space to protest, not accepting faults in the system is not a healthy sign for a democracy.”
Small protests were also held in financial capital Mumbai and tech hub Bengaluru, while student organisations held a demonstration in the eastern city of Patna, with people waving flags of their organisations and pushing against police barricades.
Youth used as pawns, BJP says
The cockroach movement has emerged as one of the biggest political challenges faced by Modi and his BJP in his 12 years in power.
A weeks-long sit-in by its supporters earlier in 2026 forced Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over exam paper leaks.
The latest demonstrations erupted after The Indian Express newspaper reported that Kumar’s two deputies raised concerns internally about voter list changes, registration procedures and digital systems.
The 130 million names that were removed from voter lists starting in 2025 – equivalent to more than the population of Japan – included 28 million people who had died, 63 million who relocated, and 30 million who could not be traced, according to the Election Commission.
Opposition parties allege the deletions disproportionately affect Muslims and other minorities who are unlikely to support the Hindu nationalist ruling party, allegations the commission and the BJP reject.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the demonstrations were main opposition Congress party’s attempt to “seize power”.
“Instead of channelling the energy of the youth toward nation-building, they are being used as pawns in the politics of anarchy,” he said at a media briefing on Oct 16. REUTERS