India Arrests Several Cockroach Party Leaders at Protest Site
Several senior leaders of India’s popular Janta Cockroach Party (CJP) movement were arrested after entering the iconic protest site in New Delhi, which has been blockaded by police in recent days.
New Delhi police said, according to AFP on Tuesday (13 October 2026), that Jantar Mantar, in the centre of the Indian capital, had been removed from the list of officially authorised protest venues. For decades, Jantar Mantar has been a regular gathering place for demonstrators in India.
The iconic site has been closed for several days, with yellow metal barricades installed and a heavy police presence.
However, a video posted online on Tuesday (13 October) by CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke showed demonstrators climbing over the barricades and running into the open area at Jantar Mantar. They also waved the Indian national flag before police pursued and arrested them.
“CJP sneaked in to take back Jantar Mantar,” the party said in a social media post.
Those arrested included CJP leaders Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and Ajinkya Shinde.
“They have all been detained by Delhi Police,” the CJP post said.
Opposition parties and CJP supporters have taken to the streets in recent days, defying a crackdown by Indian security forces. They are protesting to demand the resignation of Election Commission of India (ECI) chief Gyanesh Kumar.
The ECI, which oversees voting in India, has been accused of manipulating voter rolls to benefit the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a Hindu nationalist party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Opposition parties and critics say the ECI’s revisions to the voter rolls could strip millions of people in India of their right to vote.
The ECI has rejected allegations of irregularities in its “Special Intensive Revision”, saying the exercise is intended to remove duplicate records and ineligible voters.
On Monday (12 October), New Delhi police announced three official alternative venues to Jantar Mantar. A CJP protest in July, which led to the Education Minister’s resignation following an examination scandal, was also held at one of those sites.
“You cannot revoke the status of a protest site,” Dipke said in a social media statement, tagging Modi’s official account. Dipke himself was arrested by police over the weekend before being released.
Speaking at a business conference in New Delhi, Modi said India was the “mother of democracy”, but did not directly address the CJP protests.
“In our country, people openly debate various issues and discuss different points of view,” he said.