NEW DELHI: A Delhi court released three senior leaders of the Gen Z-led Cockroach Janta Party on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, as protests over reported electoral roll manipulation entered a second day, with thousands of police and paramilitary personnel deployed across the Indian capital to prevent demonstrators from gathering.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, along with party leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, was detained after arriving in Delhi to lead demonstrations demanding electoral reforms and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The protests center on allegations that India's voter list revision has unfairly removed millions of eligible voters and benefited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Following his release, Dipke vowed that the movement would continue despite the arrests and restrictions imposed across the capital.
"The CJP will neither back down nor be intimidated," Dipke said in a post on X. He also criticized Modi, writing that the prime minister was "an embarrassment to India."
Dipke later said he was returning to his village to attend his grandmother's funeral. Das and Ranka were expected to address a news conference in Delhi.
Police continued to detain protesters, while barricades, transport restrictions and curtailed mobile internet access disrupted movement across central Delhi.
Supreme Court orders restoration of services:
India's Supreme Court held a special hearing on Sunday, Oct. 11, to address complaints about the restrictions and mass detentions. The court directed authorities to restore internet access and ensure that metro and rail services operated normally unless public order was threatened. It also emphasized that people should be allowed to move freely and that unlawful detentions must not continue.
The intervention followed sweeping security measures introduced ahead of Saturday's planned demonstration at Jantar Mantar, a prominent protest site in central Delhi.
Police had denied permission for the gathering, and authorities established barricades at key locations to prevent demonstrators from reaching the venue. At least 45 metro stations faced entry and exit restrictions, while major rail services were disrupted and some trains canceled.
Protesters traveling to Delhi from other states were reportedly stopped and removed from trains before reaching the capital. Mobile internet services were also restricted in central Delhi.
On Sunday, parts of the city remained heavily barricaded, with police and paramilitary personnel stationed along major roads and commercial areas. In Connaught Place, one of Delhi's busiest shopping and entertainment districts, rows of yellow barricades separated streets from heavily guarded areas.
Some businesses remained open, but workers expressed concern about further disruptions as security forces outnumbered protesters in several locations.
The BBC reported witnessing additional detentions. Some demonstrators were taken away in buses while shouting slogans demanding Kumar's resignation.
Thousands detained as crackdown widens:
Authorities detained thousands of people during Saturday's demonstrations, with reports indicating that about 7,000 protesters were later released. The arrests included activists, student leaders and others who had traveled to Delhi to participate in the planned march.
Dipke, Das and Ranka were detained after police boarded their flight when it landed in Delhi. Their detention prevented the CJP's leading figures from immediately joining the demonstration.
CJP lawyer Ratna Singh said that police had informed her the three leaders would be presented before a magistrate while authorities sought their remand on public peace grounds. She later announced on X that they had been released by the court.
Singh initially referred to a possible condition requiring the leaders to avoid breaches of public peace for one year but later deleted that portion of her post. The precise terms of the court's order, and whether it limits the leaders' participation in protests, remained unclear.
Authorities also imposed restrictions under Section 163 of India's Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, which can prohibit gatherings of more than five people and restrict certain public activities. The measures were intended to prevent large demonstrations, but critics argued that they severely curtailed peaceful assembly.
“More than 15,000 protesters have been detained,” Ajinkya Shinde, a CJP leader, said at a news conference in Delhi.
Police did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment on detentions.
“We will be back, let them fill up all the jails,” Shinde said. Dozens of protesters shouted anti-government slogans as they were taken away in police vehicles, AFP reporters witnessed.
Voter list revision at the heart of protests:
The dispute centers on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), an extensive exercise to update India's electoral rolls. The Election Commission says the process is intended to remove the names of deceased, duplicate and otherwise ineligible voters.
However, at least 130 million names have reportedly been removed from voter lists nationwide, prompting complaints from people who say they were wrongly excluded.
The CJP and opposition parties accuse the Election Commission, led by Kumar, of conducting the revision in a way that could favor Modi's BJP. Critics have also raised concerns that the deletions could disproportionately affect marginalized communities, including Muslims.
The Election Commission and the BJP have denied allegations of manipulation. The dispute has intensified ahead of crucial state elections, increasing pressure on election officials and the government to address concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
From student protests to a national movement:
The CJP emerged in May after Dipke responded to remarks by India's Chief Justice, who had compared some unemployed young people to cockroaches. Dipke's post asking what would happen if "all cockroaches come together" gained traction online and helped launch the movement.
The group first attracted widespread attention through protests over education reforms, unemployment and alleged examination paper leaks. Its five-week campaign during the summer ended after Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned in July, a development celebrated by protesters.
The movement has since expanded its demands to include electoral accountability and the resignation of Kumar.
Although the CJP is not a registered political party, it has become a focal point for young protesters and has drawn support from student organizations, activists and opposition groups critical of the BJP government.
With the CJP's senior leaders now released and demonstrators continuing to mobilize, the confrontation over electoral reforms remains unresolved. The court's intervention has also placed renewed attention on whether authorities can maintain public order without imposing restrictions that prevent peaceful protests or unlawfully detain demonstrators.
