Police detain protesters and youth movement leaders in Delhi ahead of election chief protest

New Delhi, India. Police detained scores of protesters and their leaders on Saturday amid a lockdown aimed at stopping a youth protest demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Thousands of security personnel patrolled the capital, while travel and telecommunications links were suspended.

Protest over voter list revision

The “Cockroach” youth movement aimed to draw thousands of demonstrators to protest against Kumar over a revision of voter lists that critics say favours Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.

Some young protesters chanted “Long live the revolution” as police chased them in central Delhi. Officers dragged scores of others into buses to be taken away, even as more protesters arrived, a Reuters witness said.

“This is violating the rights of the people and the country will not tolerate this anymore,” Yogendra Solanki, one of those being pushed into a bus, told Reuters.

Movement leaders detained on arrival

Police also detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke and senior leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka when their aircraft arrived in Delhi from Mumbai, CJP said in a statement.

“I have come to be arrested, arrest me … I am not afraid of you guys,” Dipke told police officers who spoke to the three on board the aircraft, television images showed.

“No, this is not an arrest,” one officer replied. “Please cooperate.”

CJP condemned what it described as the “authoritarian detention” of its leaders and a “pre-planned interception” intended to cripple the leadership of Saturday’s rally. It demanded their immediate release.

Reporters and lawyers also detained

Representatives of two digital media outlets said on X that police detained four of their reporters while they were covering the protest.

Some lawyers protesting outside the Supreme Court were also detained, the president of its bar association posted on X.