India Detains Student Leaders in Delhi Protest Crackdown

Indian authorities detained leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party and imposed major security restrictions in central Delhi on Saturday to prevent a planned protest against revisions to voter rolls, with police targeting organizers and limiting access to the demonstration area.

Police detained founder Abhijeet Dipke, spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, and legal head Ratna Singh after they arrived in the capital from Mumbai by flight. The CJP alleged thousands of supporters were held to stop them from joining the protest.

Abhijeet Dipke, the Cockroach Janta Party founder, described his detention in a video recorded on the aircraft.

"You can see where the nation is heading, they are here to arrest us directly from the flight. This is dictatorship." said Abhijeet Dipke, Cockroach Janta Party founder.

The demonstration called for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over his handling of a voter-roll overhaul launched last year. According to the source report, more than 130 million names have been removed from electoral rolls, while critics argue eligible voters may also have been affected.

Authorities deployed thousands of police personnel across the capital and restricted movement around the protest site. Bloomberg News reported that as many as 60,000 police and paramilitary personnel were placed on standby.

Opposition lawmaker Shashi Tharoor criticized the restrictions and linked them to concerns over election oversight.

"Freedom of movement stands completely shackled. A government confident in the fairness of its elections would welcome questions about them, whereas one that turns its capital into a fortress to avoid them only deepens the very suspicions it seeks to suppress." said Shashi Tharoor, an Indian National Congress lawmaker.

Other detained figures included West Bengal opposition leader Mamata Banerjee, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders Brinda Karat and K.K. Shailaja, social media commentator Dhruv Rathee, Tushar Gandhi, and student activist Neha Bora. Several lawyers protesting outside the Supreme Court were also detained.

Delhi Police said gatherings by the CJP would be considered illegal and warned that violations would lead to legal action.

"proper legal action will be taken against" said Delhi Police.

The CJP led one of India's largest student protest movements in recent years, which resulted in the education minister's resignation in July. Opposition parties have continued demonstrations as key state elections approach, including in Uttar Pradesh.

The Election Commission has rejected criticism of the voter-roll revision process, saying its decisions were unanimous. India's Supreme Court also questioned changes to a voter registration form during proceedings this week.