Sawt Falasteen - India detains 'cockroach' movement leaders in bid to thwart election protest

The demonstration is the culmination of weeks of opposition mobilisation following allegations of misconduct during a nationwide voter-roll revision by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke and two other leaders were detained before disembarking from a flight in the capital, the group said.

It said in a statement they had been taken to "an undisclosed location".

"They're being denied access to their lawyers and cut off from all contact with others," the statement said.

Opposition parties and other critics say the voter-roll revision could disenfranchise millions of voters and benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

The ECI has rejected allegations of impropriety, saying the revision was intended to remove duplicate and ineligible voters.

Delhi has been under a strict security clampdown since Friday, with tens of thousands of police and paramilitary personnel deployed to stop those seeking to reach the main protest site in the heart of the city.

Authorities have closed dozens of metro stations, cancelled several trains coming to Delhi and temporarily shut down mobile internet around the protest site.

Dozens of protesters were taken away in police vehicles after they tried to march to the Jantar Mantar protest site in central Delhi, shouting anti-government slogans, AFP reporters saw.

The Hindu newspaper said as many as 3,000 protesters had been detained, although it was not immediately possible to verify that number.

- Fresh challenge -

Journalists from some media outlets, including the Scroll and Newslaundry, were also detained briefly.

AFP was unable to reach police for comment on the reported detentions.

The protests are widely seen as a reprise of the "cockroach" movement's mass mobilisation in July, which led to the education minister stepping down over an examination scandal.

This time, they are demanding the resignation of ECI chief Gyanesh Kumar.

The allegations against the ECI are a fresh challenge for 76-year-old Modi during his third term in office.

Opposition parties have long alleged that legitimate voters are being struck off lists in India, the world's largest democracy with 1.4 billion people.

The issue flared last month when the Indian Express reported that key decisions linked to the revision were likely taken without the approval of two of the three election commissioners.

Demonstrators told AFP they were angry because they were being denied their right to protest peacefully.

Saransh, a university graduate, walked several miles after navigating security barricades to get close to the Jantar Mantar site.

"I am here to protect the constitution," said the 24-year-old, who gave only one name.

"Why do I need permission to peacefully express my opinion?"

- 'India is calm' -

Amnesty International denounced the "lockdown-like restrictions", while Shashi Tharoor of the opposition Congress party said the government must provide answers.

"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," he said.

The voter list overhaul, which began in 2025, has led to more than 133 million names being excluded from draft rolls, according to Indian media reports citing ECI data.

The commission said the revision identifies fraudulently registered voters and aims to prevent "foreign illegal immigrants" from voting.

Critics say the drive has disproportionately affected marginalised and minority communities.

Members of Modi's party have long alleged that large numbers of undocumented Muslim migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh have fraudulently entered India's electoral rolls.

BJP spokesman Sambit Patra said on Saturday the CJP had failed in its attempt to spread "anarchy".

"What is happening at Jantar Mantar, what you can see on TV and a few social media handles, is not India's story," he told reporters.

"India is calm and going ahead under good governance."

Political analyst Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay told AFP the protest comes at a time when Modi appears to be "at his weakest politically and individually".

"And I see this becoming a bigger challenge in the coming months," he said.

O.Mousa--SF-PST