Police detained more than 2,000 protesters in Delhi on Saturday, Oct. 10, and shut mobile internet services, metro stations and markets to stop a rally calling for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. Security forces sealed Jantar Mantar before the Cockroach movement could bring thousands together there.
Who Was Detained
A home ministry official who spoke anonymously told Reuters that police detained more than 2,000 people in Delhi. Local media reported that police held about 400 protesters in Mumbai, India’s financial hub. Police had no immediate comment on the detentions.
The group said police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke and senior leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka when their flight from Mumbai landed in Delhi. Television footage showed Dipke challenging officers aboard the aircraft. “I have come to be arrested, arrest me ... I am not afraid of you guys,” he said. One officer replied, “No, this is not an arrest. Please cooperate.”
The group said authorities refused to share updates about the leaders’ whereabouts or health, even after it learned that Dipke’s grandmother had died. Police said they informed Dipke of her death and offered help getting home for the funeral.
Television channels showed police detaining opposition lawmakers and former chief ministers Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal, Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi and Pinarayi Vijayan of Kerala. Representatives of two digital news outlets said police briefly detained four reporters covering the demonstrations. Police also briefly detained a Reuters journalist, then released the journalist.
Across the capital, home to about 20 million people, security forces set up checkpoints on major roads and at entry points, boarded buses to search for protesters and inspected vehicles. Barricades and concrete blocks disrupted traffic. Anti-riot vehicles with tear-gas launchers guarded key routes.
The Voter Roll Dispute
The protest targeted Kumar over revisions to voter lists that critics say disproportionately benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Indian Express reported the previous week that two election commissioners had questioned Kumar’s revisions, which removed roughly 130 million names from voter lists. Kumar hasn’t commented. The Election Commission and BJP have denied wrongdoing.
Election Commission data show that officials removed about 130 million voter entries during the verification exercise: 63 million people had relocated, 30 million couldn’t be traced and 28 million had died. The commission said the removals involved entries identified during the draft revision process and that eligible voters deleted by mistake can re-enrol.
Opposition parties say voter deletions affected the results of recent state elections won by the BJP and cast a shadow over voting in the world’s largest democracy. The BJP says its electoral success reflects Modi’s popularity and India’s economic growth, and accuses opposition parties of spreading misinformation.
The protests came ahead of important state elections beginning in early 2027. They followed demonstrations over exam paper leaks that forced Modi’s education minister to quit. Rahul Gandhi, leader of the main opposition Congress party, said Modi’s opponents wouldn’t back down. Ravi Shankar Prasad, a senior BJP member, said the party didn’t oppose demonstrations but that rivals had “weaponised” street protests because of election defeats.
Restrictions and Rights
Authorities deployed thousands of police and paramilitary personnel across Delhi. They suspended mobile internet services in the central business district and shut dozens of metro stations and markets as the movement prepared to demonstrate.
The United Nations human rights office expressed concern about mass detentions before and during the protests. “We call on the authorities to ensure that the right to peaceful assembly is fully respected and fulfilled,” UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said. He urged authorities to engage in “meaningful dialogue” over concerns he described as “broadly held.”
The Indian mission to the UN in Geneva called the concerns “misplaced” and “an unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of India.” It said the Constitution guarantees peaceful assembly, subject to “reasonable restrictions in the interest of public order.”
The movement condemned what it called the “authoritarian detention” of its leaders, demanded their release and vowed to continue protesting. “We will continue our protest tomorrow, day after ... until Gyanesh Kumar resigns. We will be on the streets,” CJP leader Ajinkya Shinde told reporters.