Delhi protest leaders detained ahead of rally
Police detained Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke in the Indian capital New Delhi on Friday, hours before the start of a rally called by the youth-led movement demanding the resignation of the country’s election chief over disputed voter rolls.
The march was called after CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were jailed for five days on Wednesday for allegedly entering Jantar Mantar, a central Delhi site recently removed from the list of approved protest venues in the Indian capital. Dipke had urged supporters to gather with Indian flags at Connaught Place’s Central Park.
Another prominent activist and student leader, Neha Bora, was also detained near Jantar Mantar.
More than 25,000 police and paramilitary personnel were deployed across New Delhi and nearby areas, with barricades, surveillance cameras, and drones used to monitor the planned gathering.
The rally went ahead despite the detentions, with around 2,000 protesters gathering in and around Connaught Place holding the national flag, local media reported, citing police estimates.
How many will the Modi-Shah put under arrest? Abhijeet’s detention is gross violation of his rights. Every arrest this government makes more youth will hit the streets! https://t.co/rb0vqyBkbR
— Cockroach Janta Party - CJP (@Cockroachisback) October 16, 2026
The Indian capital has seen back-to-back protests in the last two weeks by the opposition parties and the satirical CJP movement demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over a nationwide electoral-roll revision that has removed more than 130 million names.
Opposition groups allege that eligible voters have been excluded and that the exercise benefits Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Election Commission and BJP deny the allegations. The poll body says any wrongly excluded voters can seek reinstatement of their names in the rolls.
It is the second time Dipke has been detained as Indian authorities try to choke off the protests. He was detained from a plane when he landed in Delhi on Saturday but was later released.
Video shared by the CJP on Friday showed Dipke leaving the residence of an opposition party spokesman, where he was staying, when police stopped him and took him away in a vehicle, Reuters reported.
“We are placing you under preventive detention,” an officer told Dipke, citing restrictions under Section 163 of India’s criminal procedure law.
Police had earlier visited the residence and served Dipke notice warning him against holding the rally. Authorities said Connaught Place, a business and commercial area in the heart of the Indian capital that is also known as Rajiv Chowk, was not an authorized protest venue and urged him not to disrupt traders, commuters, and other members of the public.
The New Delhi Municipal Council closed Central Park for two days, and the police offered to facilitate a symbolic flag ceremony involving 11 people at a “suitable location.” The Delhi High Court had declined to prohibit the rally on Thursday but recorded police assurances that the gathering would be regulated.
The restrictions on protests have reached India’s Supreme Court, which agreed to examine the removal of Jantar Mantar as an authorized demonstration site and directed authorities to preserve CCTV footage of recent protests.
