NEW DELHI — Law enforcement officers detained key leaders of the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party on Tuesday morning after group members scaled security barricades to enter the historic Jantar Mantar demonstration site. The detentions included chief spokesperson Saurav Das and national spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka, along with several associates who attempted to stage a demonstration despite heavy police deployment throughout the capital.
Video footage circulated on social media showed party activists leaping over locked iron gates while waving the Indian national flag and chanting patriotic slogans before being intercepted and placed into custody by stationed police units. Party founder Abhijeet Dipke confirmed the detentions online, criticizing the police crackdown and asserting that government efforts to curb public assemblies would not suppress political opposition.
The unrest follows a controversial administrative decision by the Union government to officially de-notify Jantar Mantar as a designated protest zone, shifting sanctioned assembly spaces to alternate peripheral grounds across the city. Political groups and civic organizations have strongly resisted the relocation, viewing the restriction as an attempt to diminish visible demonstrations in central New Delhi.
Security across the national capital remains on high alert amid escalating agitation demanding accountability and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Protesters and opposition parties allege widespread discrepancies during the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. In response to growing mobilization calls, authorities have reinforced checkpoints, established multi-layered barricades, and mobilized additional police personnel across major central hubs to maintain public order.
