Delhi 'Cockroach' protest: thousands detained as CJP leaders, Mamata Banerjee and Kejriwal are stopped before Jantar Mantar

Key takeaways

• Delhi was placed under a heavy security blanket on Saturday, 10 October, as the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) tried to hold a "Jantar Mantar 2.0" protest demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
• CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained on arrival from Mumbai, according to the CJP and reports. Delhi Police had not commented on those detentions at the time of the BBC report.
• Numbers vary by outlet: ThePrint reported around 3,500 detained across Delhi, while The Indian Express counted about 2,000 by mid-afternoon. The CJP itself claims more than 1,000 people were held across the National Capital Region.
• Opposition leaders including Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal were also reported detained, according to The Indian Express.
• The Election Commission and the BJP deny the voter-list manipulation allegations behind the protest.

What happened

Delhi Police refused permission for the protest at Jantar Mantar, citing law-and-order concerns, inadequate notice and conditions broken at earlier demonstrations. The Indian Express reports that the application was filed on 7 October against a prescribed 10-day notice period.

Roads to the site were barricaded, dozens of metro stations closed from Friday night and several trains cancelled, the BBC reported. Tens of thousands of security personnel were deployed. A senior Special Cell officer told ANI that prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS were in force around India Gate and that the situation there was "peaceful".

Most detainees were picked up before they got near Jantar Mantar and taken in buses and vans to stadiums and other temporary detention centres, according to The Indian Express. ThePrint quoted Delhi Police sources saying detentions could last up to 24 hours.

Among those named in reports:

• CJP: Dipke, Das and Ranka; the CJP also says influencer Dhruv Rathee, legal cell head Ratna Singh and spokesperson Mehr were detained from their homes.
• Opposition: Mamata Banerjee (her party's Saket Gokhale said she was detained outside her Delhi residence), Arvind Kejriwal and Saurabh Bharadwaj of AAP, and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who was taken to Chhatrasal Stadium, per The Indian Express.
• Activists: Neha Bora, Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan.

Ajinkya Shinde, the CJP's organisation in-charge, was named to lead the protest while the founders are in detention. Dipke said in a video recorded on the aircraft that he was prepared for arrest, and the CJP says its nationwide agitation will continue.

What each side says

CJP and opposition: They accuse Gyanesh Kumar of favouring the ruling BJP in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, saying tens of thousands of people were wrongly removed in several states. They call the crackdown a violation of the freedom of movement.

Election Commission and BJP: The Election Commission says the SIR is a routine exercise to remove dead, duplicate or ineligible voters. The Election Commission and the BJP have denied the manipulation claims, the BBC notes. These are allegations; no court or independent body has established them.

Background

The CJP emerged in May after India's Chief Justice Surya Kant likened some jobless young people to "cockroaches", a remark he later said was misinterpreted. Dipke, who had just finished a master's degree at Boston University, posted on X asking "What if all cockroaches come together?" and the post went viral. The movement tapped into anger over unemployment and exam paper leaks, and a five-week summer protest ended in July with the resignation of the education minister, the BBC reports.

The group is not registered as a political party. For earlier coverage of the demand to remove the CEC, see our explainer on the Delhi protests over CEC Gyanesh Kumar.

What to watch

• When and whether the detained leaders are released, and whether charges follow.
• Whether the CJP holds protests in other cities, as it has said it will.
• Any response from the Election Commission or the government to the opposition's demands.
• A Supreme Court plea reported on Saturday alleging violation of an earlier order on protests.

This is a developing story and numbers are still being revised.