NEW DELHI: Two senior leaders of India’s youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) have been remanded in judicial custody for five days over trespassing at Jantar Mantar, the party said on Wednesday, following a police decision to remove the prominent protest venue from the list of designated demonstration sites.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke announced on social media that Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das had been sent to five days of judicial custody after being detained on Tuesday for entering the site in the heart of the Indian capital.
Delhi Police had announced a day earlier that Jantar Mantar was no longer on the list of officially designated protest sites.
A video shared online by Dipke showed the two men climbing over barricades, entering an open area and waving the Indian national flag before police chased and detained them.
When those in power seem to know the election results before the people of India have even voted, maybe the real question is: Who is deciding the outcome? https://t.co/ij3OYf6bZt
— Cockroach Janta Party – CJP (@Cockroachisback) October 13, 2026
The arrests come amid growing demonstrations by supporters of the online movement and opposition parties, who have been demanding the resignation of the head of the Election Commission of India over allegations of manipulation of voter rolls to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party
READ ALSO: India Protests Spread Over Voter List Changes
Jantar Mantar has been sealed off for several days with yellow metal barricades and placed under a heavy police presence, further restricting access to a venue long associated with public demonstrations.
Defending the detained leaders, Dipke said they were being punished for “unfurling tricolour at Jantar Mantar”. “Show some guts, @narendramodi,” he wrote in a social media post, directly challenging the prime minister.
The arrests have brought renewed attention to the restrictions facing protesters in the Indian capital, as political opponents and activists seek to challenge the government and demand accountability from public institutions.
