Delhi police detain thousands ahead of planned youth protest over voter list revisions
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Indian authorities intercepted and detained hundreds of demonstrators and several movement leaders in New Delhi as a youth-led protest against the Election Commission's voter list revision was set to begin.
Police in New Delhi carried out a large-scale operation on Saturday, stopping vehicles at checkpoints, sealing off the Jantar Mantar area and detaining thousands of people who intended to join a protest organized by the youth “Cockroach” movement. The demonstration was planned to oppose a recent voter-list revision that the opposition says has removed more than 130 million names from electoral rolls.
Authorities said the protest permission was denied because the application was submitted after the deadline. Security forces also barred gatherings of five or more people, deployed anti-riot vehicles with tear-gas launchers and restricted mobile-internet access in parts of the city.
Three movement leaders – Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka – were taken into custody after arriving at Delhi airport, a video posted by the group on X showed police boarding the aircraft. The movement described the action as a “pre-planned interception … to cripple the leadership of today’s peaceful demonstrations.”
Some participants managed to breach police cordons and shouted slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and election officials before being arrested. Opposition lawmakers criticized the operation, with one lawmaker stating, “Is there a democracy in this country? A total siege over the city. Citizens are being driven out.”
The voter-list dispute has become a focal point for parties opposing the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which denies allegations of disenfranchisement and says the revision aims to remove duplicate or ineligible entries. The protest follows earlier demonstrations by the same youth movement that led to the resignation of the education minister in July after alleged exam-paper leaks.