Indian authorities crack down on 'Cockroach' protest in central Delhi. Follow live.
Deutsche Welle · LC · trust 52/100
Indian authorities have imposed extraordinary security measures to block protesters from joining a demonstration called by the Cockroach Janta Party in New Delhi. The main leaders of the party have been detained too.
https://p.dw.com/p/5O5vX Police have detained thousands of protesters in a major crackdown Image: Vipin/AP Photo/picture alliance Advertisement Skip next section What you need to know What you need to know Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke and other party leaders detained on landing in Delhi 43,000 police and security personnel deployed across Delhi Internet services suspended in central Delhi Massive restrictions in place on metro and railway services CJP called for a rally — that has not been authorized by police — to oppose ongoing revision of voter lists and demand resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar Here is our rolling coverage of developments from India on Saturday, October 10:
10/10/2026 October 10, 2026 Indian opposition leaders detained amid police crackdown on protests Akanksha Saxena Videos released by opposition leaders show that several senior figures were detained in New Delhi on Saturday.
They include Arvind Kejriwal, leader of the Aam Aadmi Party and former chief minister of Delhi .
"It's official... we are living under an absolute dictatorship," Kejriwal wrote on X.
Mamata Banerjee, who lost power as West Bengal's chief minister earlier this year, was also detained.
Pinarayi Vijayan, a communist leader who headed the southern state of Kerala until May, was among those detained.
Rahul Gandhi, leader of India's opposition Congress party , called the crackdown an act of "cowardice" and described Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, right-wing, Hindu nationalist RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval as "the villains of this story" who were "slowly finding the space closing around them. We are closing that space."
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Rahul Gandhi's sister and a Congress MP, wrote in a social media post: "India is not a democracy anymore. It is a dictatorship being run by Mr. Narendra Modi and Mr. Amit Shah."
Opposition parties and critics have warned that the electoral-roll revision exercise could strip millions of people of their voting rights and give an advantage to Prime Minister Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Election Commission of India has rejected allegations of wrongdoing, saying the "special intensive revision" aims to remove duplicate and ineligible voters.
The protests echo the CJP's mass mobilization in July, which forced the then education minister to resign over an examination scandal.
This time, demonstrators are demanding the resignation of election chief Gyanesh Kumar.
10/10/2026 October 10, 2026 Police crackdown amid outrage over India voter list revision Akanksha Saxena Tens of thousands of security personnel have been deployed and roads barricaded across New Delhi to prevent the latest Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) demonstration.
Police have detained thousands of protesters in a major crackdown. Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke and two other leaders were detained before disembarking from a flight in the capital.
Some protesters who turned back from Jantar Mantar, the designated protest site, have been waiting in different parts of central Delhi, determined to hold their ground.
The CJP has urged people who believe they or someone they know has been unlawfully detained to fill out an online form as soon as possible, saying it is collecting information to support affected volunteers and other individuals.
The protest targeted Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over voter list revisions that critics say favor Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling BJP.
10/10/2026 October 10, 2026 READ: Why are India's 'cockroaches' protesting again? Seerat Chabba Police have managed to clear away protesters from the designated protest site in Delhi Image: Midhat Fatimah/DW If you're joining us now, here's a helpful reminder about why India's youth are rising up this time.
10/10/2026 October 10, 2026 'We've been playing a game of cat and mouse with police,' protester tells DW Dharvi Vaid Dhulia DW Hindi's Adarsh Sharma, who is on the ground in New Delhi, spoke to protesters as they faced a security crackdown.
He caught up with one protester who managed to avoid detention.
"We were running back and forth. When the police are moving forward, we go back. When they are withdrawing, we are moving forward," the protester told DW.
The protester described the heavy police presence as a "game of perception."
"Where you have 20 protesters and 10 media persons, there are 100 police personnel standing. It seems like a joke, what they are doing with taxpayers' money," the protester said.
Another protester, Jasmine, described how the morning unfolded for the demonstrators.
"We have been playing a game of cat and mouse with the police, trying to stop them from picking us up," she said.
"I don't think we have ever seen something like this happening. Protesting is a fundamental right… it's such a convoluted idea to take permission to protest… you are protesting against a government, will you ask permission from the same government? They are not going to give it," she said.
10/10/2026 October 10, 2026 CJP's new protest leader asks supporters to keep up the fight Dharvi Vaid Dhulia Ajinkya Shinde, who was handed the responsibility of leading the Cockroach Janta Party's protest following the detentions of its main leaders, has made his first statement — calling for a continued march to Jantar Mantar.
"We appeal to everyone to march towards Jantar Mantar! If Delhi Police tries to stop you, wherever they stop you will become your Jantar Mantar," he said in a video post made by the CJP on X.
10/10/2026 October 10, 2026 Indian media houses say their journalists were briefly detained during Delhi protests…
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