Indian Police Stop 'Cockroach' Movement Founder at Airport; Thousands of Police Seal Off New Delhi Protest

Indian police detained Abhijit Dipak, founder of the "Cockroach People's Party," and several leaders at New Delhi airport, while deploying thousands of police, suspending mobile internet, and sealing off dozens of metro stations in the capital, in an attempt to prevent a nationwide protest against the chief election commissioner and the removal of 130 million people from voter rolls.

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Dipak and the party's leaders Saurov Das and Ashutosh Lanka were intercepted after their flight from Mumbai landed in New Delhi. Television footage showed Dipak telling officers when intercepted: "I came here to be arrested, arrest me... I'm not afraid of you."

The "Cockroach People's Party" condemned the detention as "dictatorial detention," calling it a premeditated action aimed at paralyzing the leadership of Saturday's rally, and demanding the immediate release of those detained.

The scale of security deployment revealed the authorities' determination to contain this rapidly growing movement. Police deployed thousands of officers and paramilitary personnel across the city, suspended mobile internet in the central business district, and closed dozens of metro stations and markets. Police intercepted vehicles heading toward the rally site and boarded them for searches, deployed anti-riot vehicles and tear gas launchers on major routes, and imposed restrictions on press reporting in some areas.

The protest was originally planned for the designated protest venue in Central Delhi, Jantar Mantar, but the area was sealed off before the demonstration began. Small protests broke out at other locations in the city — including a well-known handicrafts market and the Mahatma Gandhi memorial — with protesters shouting slogans demanding the resignation of Election Commission Chairman Jyanesh Kumar.

The core demand of the movement is Kumar's resignation and an end to the Election Commission's "Special Intensive Revision." The opposition accuses the revision of unfairly favoring Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, claiming more than 130 million names have been removed from voter rolls so far. The Election Commission and the government deny these allegations, saying the revision aims to remove duplicate and ineligible registrations.

Tanya Negi, a university student from Mumbai, said: "We are a democratic country, yet peaceful protests are being suppressed by force. Shouldn't we fight for our rights?"

The voter roll dispute has risen as a political rallying cry for the opposition to challenge Modi's Hindu nationalist party. According to reports, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was briefly detained by police at an earlier protest.

For the newly formed "Cockroach People's Party," the controversy offers an opportunity to expand its influence. The movement forced the resignation of Modi's education minister in July this year through protests sparked by a paper leak scandal.