Indian court extends detention of Cockroach Janta Party leaders
An Indian court on Monday ordered an additional two‑day detention for Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, two prominent figures in the youth‑led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). The move comes as authorities intensify a crackdown on the near‑daily anti‑government rallies that have swept the country in recent weeks.
Ranka and Das were among 14 activists who, last week, scaled the barricades at the Jantar Mantar observatory in New Delhi to stage a demonstration after the site was removed from the list of approved protest locations. A court subsequently sentenced the pair to five days in jail. Police later asked for more time to interrogate them, prompting the magistrate to extend their custody by two days. Delhi Police did not immediately comment on the decision.
“This is an absolute mockery of the judicial system,” said Ratna Singh, the CJP’s legal chief, outside the courtroom. She added that the party intends to appeal the order in a higher court.
The CJP has been at the forefront of protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The party alleges that a recent revision of voter rolls erased the names of roughly 130 million citizens, a move they claim benefits Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. The Election Commission has defended the revision, saying the deleted entries include about 28 million deceased individuals, 63 million who have moved, and 30 million whose whereabouts could not be verified. It maintains that the process was not intended to favour any political party and that anyone whose name was wrongly removed can re‑register.
The BJP has accused opposition groups of attempting to destabilise democracy by questioning the integrity of the electoral process. On Friday, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, several student leaders and their supporters were detained as hundreds gathered in central Delhi to protest in solidarity with Ranka and Das.
Despite the arrests, the movement says it will not relent. Earlier this year, a sit‑in organized by the CJP and allied groups forced Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign after a scandal involving leaked exam papers. The party and its supporters remain determined to press their demands over the voter‑list controversy.