Police detain leaders of India’s ‘cockroach’ movement at New Delhi protest

Cockroach Janta Party volunteers detained after entering a popular protest site authorities had declared off-limits.

Delhi Police personnel inspect vehicles near the Jantar Mantar protest site in New Delhi on October 13, 2026 [Arun Sankar/AFP]

Police in the Indian capital have detained leaders of the country’s youth-led “cockroach” movement after they jumped barricades to enter a popular protest site in New Delhi while calling for the resignation of the country’s chief election commissioner (CEC) over voter list revisions.

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Ashutosh Ranka, Saurav Das and Ajinkya Shinde were among about 20 volunteers who “sneaked” into Jantar Mantar to “reclaim” the popular protest site and were detained on Tuesday.

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CJP supporters and opposition parties have held protests nearly every day this month to demand CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s ⁠resignation over the revisions, which critics say favour Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Thousands joined a protest march on Monday , after a clampdown ‌foiled CJP plans for a weekend demonstration. Earlier, police detained thousands of protesters, including CJP leaders, over the weekend.

The Delhi Police announced on Monday that the Jantar Mantar open-air astronomical observatory was no longer designated an official protest site and that three new venues had been identified for demonstrations.

However, CJP leaders and supporters went ahead with their protest plan at the Jantar Mantar and were taken into custody.

“You cannot denotify the resistance,” CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said ⁠on X after their detention.

A video posted to his account ⁠shows about a dozen volunteers jumping a gate and barricades to reach the site, where they waved the Indian flag and chanted slogans as police arrived and detained them.

The Delhi Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Reuters news agency.

In an earlier post, Dipke said the government’s efforts to block the site would do nothing to deter their campaign.

“If Modi thinks taking away Jantar Mantar will put an end to protests, he is mistaken. Jantar Mantar is not just a location but a spirit of resistance that nobody can ever take away,” he said.

The youth-led movement, which has mobilised ⁠protests in recent months over a range of issues, is among the biggest political challenges to the BJP and Modi in his 12 ⁠years in power.

The Election Commission has denied favouring any party with its revisions to the voter list, and said wrongly deleted voters can re-enrol.

蟑螂人民党志愿者因进入当局宣布为禁区的抗议热点地区而被拘留。

2026年10月13日，德里警方人员在新德里简塔曼塔抗议地点附近检查车辆。[Arun Sankar/AFP]

印度首都新德里警方拘留了该国由青年领导的“蟑螂运动”的领导人，此前他们翻越路障进入新德里一处热门抗议地点，并呼吁该国首席选举专员（CEC）因选民名单修订而辞职。

蟑螂人民党 (CJP) 领导人 Ashutosh Ranka、Saurav Das 和 Ajinkya Shinde 等约 20 名志愿者“偷偷溜进”简塔曼塔天文台，试图“夺回”这个颇受欢迎的抗议地点，并于周二被拘留。

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本月，CJP 的支持者和反对党几乎每天都举行抗议活动，要求 CEC Gyanesh Kumar 因修改选举规则而辞职。批评人士称，这些修改有利于总理纳伦德拉·莫迪的印度人民党 (BJP)。

周一，数千人参加了抗议游行，此前警方镇压行动挫败了CJP原定于周末举行的示威活动。此前，警方在周末拘留了数千名抗议者，其中包括CJP的领导人。

德里警方周一宣布，简塔·曼塔露天天文台不再被指定为官方抗议地点，并已确定了三个新的示威地点。

然而，CJP 的领导人和支持者们还是按计划在简塔曼塔天文台举行了抗议活动，并被警方拘留。

“你不能取消抵抗运动的通缉令，”CJP创始人阿比吉特·迪普克在被拘留后在X上说道。

他账号上发布的一段视频显示，大约有十几名志愿者翻过大门和路障到达现场，他们挥舞着印度国旗，高喊口号，随后警察赶到并将他们拘留。

路透社就此事联系德里警方寻求置评，但未立即得到回应。

迪普克在之前的帖子中表示，政府封锁该网站的举措并不会阻止他们的行动。

“如果莫迪认为夺走简塔·曼塔天文台就能平息抗议，那就大错特错了。简塔·曼塔天文台不仅仅是一个地点，更是一种任何人都无法夺走的抵抗精神，”他说。

这场由青年领导的运动，近几个月来就一系列问题发起抗议活动，是印度人民党和莫迪执政 12 年来面临的最大政治挑战之一。

选举委员会否认在修改选民名单时偏袒任何政党，并表示被错误删除的选民可以重新登记。