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.Published On 13 Oct 202613 Oct 2026Police 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.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Russia’s parliamentary election: Who’s on the ballot, and why it matterslist 2 of 3US cites India on voter IDs, but are elections under Modi clean?list 3 of 3Zambia’s Hichilema begins second term after disputed electionend of listCJP 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,...