Leaders of the youth-led protest movement known as the Cockroach movement were detained ahead of a planned protest in Delhi demanding the resignation of India's election commissioner. Social media influencer Dhruv Rathee, who was detained from his Gurugram residence on Saturday morning, was released overnight. An anonymous Interior Ministry official stated that Rathee's release was conditional on him not participating in further protests. Rathee had previously uploaded a video criticizing the restrictions imposed by authorities to counter the planned protests.
On Sunday, a rare hearing in India's top court is set to address a contempt petition regarding transportation restrictions during the protest. The petition alleges that authorities closed metro stations despite a Supreme Court order against a complete shutdown of public transport. On Friday, authorities had ordered the closure of over 50 metro stations and canceled many trains to prevent protesters from reaching central Delhi. The Supreme Court later directed the government to maintain train services and avoid a blanket closure of metro stations.
The court is also expected to hear petitions challenging the detentions of thousands of protesters, including leaders from the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and opposition political leaders. An executive court in Delhi ordered the release of CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, who were detained for nearly 24 hours ahead of the protest.
The CJP had previously claimed that the leaders were held at an undisclosed location without access to legal representation. On Saturday evening, the CJP called for another march to New Delhi's Jantar Mantar on Sunday, with interim protest leader Ajinkya Shinde stating, "We're not backing down! We will march to Jantar Mantar again tomorrow."
The exact number of demonstrators detained during the protest is not immediately verifiable. Shinde reported that over 15,000 people, including students, had been detained across India. According to Delhi Police sources, 2,500 demonstrators were detained in Delhi, in addition to 1,000 people picked up in preventive measures prior to the protest. Reports indicate that all detainees were released later on Saturday.
The protests are part of a larger movement against alleged manipulation of voter lists, with dramatic scenes occurring in the streets of Delhi as authorities attempted to thwart the protest. Thousands of youth protesters were detained, and parts of Delhi were locked down with a significant police and paramilitary presence. Mobile internet services were suspended in central Delhi, and dozens of metro stations were closed. Police cited violations of a protest ban as the reason for the mass detentions, while the CJP and supporting student organizations argued that they did not require permission to protest, citing it as a fundamental right. The main leaders of the CJP were detained upon landing in New Delhi for the protest, and four former chief ministers were also briefly detained during the event.