Leaders of India's Cockroach Janata Party released after detention ahead of voter list protests
Three leaders of the Cockroach Janata Party were freed on the condition of maintaining peace for a year, as the movement calls for the resignation of the election chief.
Leaders of the Cockroach Janata Party, a youth movement in India, were released on Sunday after being detained the previous day ahead of planned protests against a revision of voter lists. The three activists—Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka—were freed on the condition that they commit to "no breach of peace for one year," according to Ratna Singh, the movement's legal director, who posted the information on social media. The specific implications of the condition for future demonstrations were not clarified.
Police had boarded the leaders' flight from Mumbai when it arrived in New Delhi on Saturday and placed them in custody as they prepared to lead a demonstration in the capital. The authorities have been conducting a broad security operation in New Delhi, detaining more than 2,000 protesters, including several opposition lawmakers, and suspending train services, closing metro stations and limiting mobile internet in parts of the city. Most detainees were released late on Saturday, police said.
After his release, Dipke criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi, describing him as "an embarrassment to India" and writing on X that the country had never seen a "bigger coward and bully."