Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke detained on arrival in Delhi

Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke after his flight from Mumbai arrived in Delhi on October 10. He was travelling to a protest demanding election chief Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.

Reuters reported that coordinators Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were also detained before the planned mass demonstration. Video showed police officers aboard the aircraft. Reuters confirmed the footage’s date and location through local media reports and a statement from the movement.

Authorities increased security and blocked approaches to central Delhi to prevent large gatherings. Police also detained hundreds of protesters. Their grievances concern a revision of electoral rolls that critics say is unfair. Those accusations do not themselves establish that manipulation occurred.

The movement emerged after a scandal over leaked questions for the NEET-UG medical entrance examination, taken by more than 2 million candidates. Anger grew after Chief Justice Surya Kant compared some unemployed young people to cockroaches. Dipke, a political consultant, adopted that label for the movement.

Protests took place in New Delhi and other cities in June. Clashes, detentions and hunger strikes were followed by talks with the authorities. Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned, and amendments strengthening penalties for examination-paper leaks were approved in late July. The current demonstration centres on demands directed at the election commission.