India Releases Three ‘Cockroach’ Movement Leaders After Detention

Delhi Court Orders Release of Three Protest Movement Leaders

By News Desk Last updated Oct 11, 2026

NEW DELHI: (Web Desk) An Indian court on Sunday ordered the release of three leaders of the satirical “Cockroach” movement, including its founder Abhijeet Dipke, a day after they were detained ahead of a major protest against the country’s election commissioner, their lawyer said.

“Executive Magistrate court releases Abhijeet, Saurav (Das) and Ashutosh (Ranka),” lawyer Ratna Singh said in a social media post.

The three were detained on Saturday as authorities prepared for a large demonstration in New Delhi over allegations of misconduct in the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) nationwide voter roll revision exercise.

The movement, which began as a satirical online campaign in May, said thousands of demonstrators were detained while attempting to march towards Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site in the capital, despite a heavy security deployment.

Ajinkya Shinde, a leader of the movement, claimed at a news conference that more than 15,000 protesters had been detained. However, The Hindu reported that the number exceeded 5,000, and the figures could not immediately be independently verified. Police had not responded to AFP’s request for comment at the time of reporting.

“We will be back, let them fill up all the jails,” Shinde said.

AFP reporters witnessed dozens of demonstrators shouting anti-government slogans as police transported them away in vehicles. Media outlets, including Scroll and Newslaundry, also reported that some of their journalists had been briefly detained.

The demonstrations follow weeks of opposition mobilisation over allegations that the voter roll revision could remove millions of eligible voters, potentially benefiting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Critics have demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and called for the revision exercise to be halted.

The ECI has rejected allegations of wrongdoing, maintaining that the exercise aims to eliminate duplicate and ineligible entries, including those of undocumented foreign immigrants.

Ahead of the demonstration, authorities deployed thousands of police personnel in the capital, closed dozens of metro stations, cancelled more than 200 trains and temporarily suspended mobile internet services around the protest area.

The latest protest follows a major mobilisation by the movement in July that contributed to the resignation of the education minister amid an examination-related scandal, according to the report.

‘Protect the Constitution’

The dispute presents another political challenge for 76-year-old Modi during his third term as prime minister. Opposition parties have repeatedly alleged that eligible voters are being removed from electoral rolls in India, which has a population of approximately 1.4 billion.

The voter list revision, launched in 2025, has reportedly resulted in more than 133 million names being excluded from draft rolls, according to Indian media reports citing ECI data.

The controversy intensified last month after The Indian Express reported that key decisions concerning the revision may have been taken without the approval of two of the three election commissioners. The ECI rejected the allegation, saying its decisions were unanimous and legally valid.

Demonstrators told AFP they were being denied their right to peaceful protest.

Political analyst Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay told AFP that the demonstrations were taking place at a time when Modi appeared to be “at his weakest politically and individually”.

Although India’s next general election is not scheduled until 2029, Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous state, is due to hold elections next year.

“I see this becoming a bigger challenge in the coming months,” Mukhopadhyay said.