An Indian court has extended the detention of two leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), the youth-led movement at the centre of recent demonstrations against the government. The ruling on Monday applies to Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, and it came as authorities moved against protests that have been taking place almost daily.
The two activists were arrested while demonstrating at a historic protest venue despite a ban, and their jailing triggered another protest in New Delhi on Friday.
Arrests at Jantar Mantar protest site in Delhi
Ranka and Das were among 14 protesters who scaled barricades last week to enter the Jantar Mantar observatory, a day after the site was dropped from a list of approved demonstration venues. A court later sent them to prison for five days.
Indian media reported on Monday evening that the pair had been held for two more days, after police asked for extra time to question them. Delhi Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“This is an absolute mockery of the judicial system,” said the CJP’s legal head, Ratna Singh, who spoke to reporters outside the court. She added that the party would challenge the order in a higher court.
Protests over voter list revisions and election chief
The CJP, together with opposition parties and left-wing student groups, has led almost daily protests this month calling for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign. Demonstrators object to the removal of 130 million names from voter lists.
The Election Commission said the removed entries included 28 million people who have died, 63 million who have moved away, and 30 million who could not be traced. It denied favouring any party and said wrongly deleted voters could re-enrol.
Critics say the revision favours Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, which has accused rivals of undermining democracy by wrongly questioning legitimate electoral processes.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, student leaders and several supporters were also detained on Friday, when hundreds gathered in central Delhi in support of Das and Ranka. The movement insists it will not back off, noting that an earlier sit-in this year forced Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign over exam paper leaks.
