Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), was detained by Delhi police on the day of a planned demonstration at Central Park. The Gen Z-led movement has been organizing protests against India’s Election Commission, accusing it of manipulating voter rolls to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling BJP. Both the Election Commission and the BJP deny the allegations.
Dipke was taken into custody as he approached his vehicle, marking his second detention in under a week. Officers had previously boarded his aircraft upon landing in Delhi to prevent him from attending an earlier demonstration. His arrest came hours after a confrontational exchange with police at his residence, which was livestreamed on social media. The movement’s two other principal leaders, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, were also in custody following their return to Jantar Mantar, a historically significant protest site near parliament that authorities had recently restricted.
The demonstration itself drew between 200 and 300 initial participants to Connaught Place, despite authorities sealing off Central Park and deploying thousands of police and paramilitary personnel. Unable to access the designated protest location, demonstrators circled the park’s perimeter while waving Indian flags. As evening fell, police began employing force against some participants, with multiple detentions recorded. Among those taken into custody was Neha Bora, a prominent activist with the All India Students’ Association.
The CJP emerged approximately five months prior as an online campaign following a remark by India’s chief justice comparing unemployed youth to cockroaches. Dipke reframed the insult into a movement slogan, and the group subsequently mobilized thousands of supporters. The movement initially focused on issues surrounding leaked examination papers before shifting its focus to electoral system concerns, specifically demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a voter list revision initiative known as the Special Intensive Revision.
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