Delhi Court orders release of ‘Cockroach’ movement leaders
A court in the Indian capital has ordered the release of top leaders of the Gen Z-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) even as the city braces for protests for a second day with thousands of security personnel deployed and roads barricaded.
Abhijeet Dipke – who began the movement in May after India’s Chief Justice likened some jobless young people to “cockroaches” – and other leaders had been detained on arrival in Delhi on Saturday to lead protests seeking electoral reforms.
Police refused them permission to protest and unprecedented curbs were in place to thwart the protesters from reaching the venue. But thousands did try – media reports said 7,000 were detained and released late at night.
The CJP – which is not registered as a political party in India – is seeking electoral reforms just months before crucial state elections. It has also demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of manipulating voters’ lists – which the Election Commission has denied.
On Sunday morning, the CJP lawyer Ratna Singh said she had been informed by the police that Dipke and two other senior CJP leaders – Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka – will be produced before the magistrate by the police seeking their remand “to maintain public peace”.
She later posted on X that the three had been set free by the court “on the condition that they will not engage in breach of peace for one year” – it’s not clear what that means and whether the CJP leaders can take part in protests.
Reuters
