Cockroach movement founder Abhijeet Dipke released after detention in Delhi

Abhijeet Dipke, founder of India’s Cockroach Janata Party protest movement, was released in New Delhi on Saturday, 17 October, a day after police detained him on his way to a rally over voter-roll changes. The release follows a crackdown on demonstrations demanding the resignation of India’s election chief.

An AFP photographer saw Dipke leave a police station on Saturday afternoon, waving to the media and giving a thumbs up as he was driven away, Dawn reported. DW reported that an Indian court released him. Ratna Singh, the movement’s head of legal affairs, said he had agreed to conditions, but did not specify their terms.

Why police detained Abhijeet Dipke

The release marks a change since the detention reported in earlier NewsJaws coverage. Student activist Neha Bora, who was also detained on Friday while trying to reach central Delhi with supporters, was released earlier on Saturday, Dawn reported. Two other senior movement figures, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, were arrested on 14 October after entering Jantar Mantar, a protest site police had declared off-limits for demonstrations. Dawn said they remained in custody at the time of its report.

The dispute over India’s voter rolls

The Cockroach Janata Party and opposition allies accuse the Election Commission of changing voter rolls to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. Protesters have demanded Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. Dawn reported that more than 130 million voters were deleted during the revision. The commission denies favouring any party and says people wrongly removed can re-enrol.

The BJP has accused its rivals of undermining democracy by questioning what it calls legitimate electoral processes. The dispute over the rolls remains the focus of the protests even as Dipke has been released.