Delhi police block Cockroach Janta Party protest as organisers urge supporters on

Delhi police detained Cockroach Janta Party leaders and supporters on October 10, 2026, while blocking a planned protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, Deutsche Welle reported. An internet suspension and restrictions on metro and railway services widened the disruption beyond demonstrators as organisers urged supporters to continue towards the protest site.

The party called the demonstration to oppose revisions to voter lists and demand Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. Critics allege that the revisions favour Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. That allegation is not an established finding in the reporting, which does not provide an Election Commission response.

Party leaders detained as police block Jantar Mantar

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke was detained aboard his flight after arriving from Mumbai on Saturday morning, according to DW. The broadcaster identified Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka as the other two principal leaders detained before the demonstration.

DW described extensive barricades and tens of thousands of security personnel across Delhi. Its live coverage gave a deployment figure of 43,000 police and security personnel, a number not independently confirmed by the separate PTI report.

The reported internet suspension in central Delhi and restrictions affecting metro and railway services also affected people travelling through or communicating from the area. The reports do not establish precise service schedules, the boundaries of the internet restriction or when normal access would resume.

Why Delhi police refused protest permission

A police refusal letter cited potential serious public-order problems and inconvenience to residents, according to a Press Trust of India dispatch published by The Economic Times. The New Delhi district deputy commissioner of police addressed the letter to CJP co-convenor Saurav Das and joint secretary Balkrishna.

“In the larger public interest, the permission sought cannot be granted and is hereby denied,” the letter said. Police described the organisers’ communication as an intimation rather than a properly submitted application and said applications for Jantar Mantar events must be submitted at least 10 days beforehand.

Police also cited alleged breaches of conditions at previous demonstrations, including protests continuing beyond permitted hours. PTI’s account establishes the reasons police gave for refusing permission; it does not independently establish those earlier breaches or the anticipated risks.

Protesters describe attempts to get past police

DW Hindi reporter Adarsh Sharma spoke to demonstrators on the ground. One unnamed participant described moving backwards when police advanced, then moving forwards when officers withdrew. Some protesters who turned back from Jantar Mantar waited elsewhere in central Delhi, according to DW’s live reporting.

“We have been playing a game of cat and mouse with the police,” a protester identified as Jasmine told DW. She questioned requiring permission from the government against which people were demonstrating.

The CJP appointed its national organisation in-charge, Ajinkya Shinde, to lead the protest while Dipke, Das and Ranka remained detained. In a video statement reported by DW, Shinde urged supporters to continue towards Jantar Mantar and demonstrate wherever police stopped them.

Detentions draw demands for access and release

The CJP alleged that its three leaders were taken to an undisclosed location and denied lawyers and outside contact. DW attributed those claims to the party; they remain independently unverified, and the reporting provides no police response to them.

The party also asked people who believed they or acquaintances had been unlawfully detained to complete an online form, saying it was gathering information to assist those affected. That appeal does not establish whether any individual detention was unlawful.

Scroll and Newslaundry said their journalists were briefly detained and later released, DW reported. Newslaundry also reported seized phones. DW described reports of physical assault and said the Committee to Protect Journalists called for equipment to be returned, alleged physical abuse investigated and journalists allowed to report without interference. The assault allegations remain unverified.

The Supreme Court Bar Association sought Chief Justice Surya Kant’s intervention over detained advocates, according to DW. It condemned what it described as excessive force and requested confirmation of every detained advocate’s whereabouts and safety. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor criticised the deployment and internet suspension and called for protesters’ release.

Organisers’ calls to continue did not establish how the demonstration ultimately ended. The reports leave unresolved the detained leaders’ eventual release, the duration of restrictions and the final number of people detained.