Indian police detain ‘cockroach’ movement founder Abhijeet Dipke

Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, was detained by Delhi police on Saturday after arriving at Indira Gandhi International Airport from Mumbai. According to Live Mint, Dipke was detained on board his flight, with police entering the aircraft and creating chaos. In a video clip, Dipke can be heard telling police personnel "I have come here to be arrested; arrest me."

Dipke and other party leaders, including Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, were detained ahead of a planned protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. The protest was called to demand the resignation of India's chief election commissioner over alleged voter-list manipulation. The Delhi Police had denied permission for the protest, citing late submission of the request.

Thousands of protesters were expected at Jantar Mantar, but authorities had imposed restrictions, including suspension of mobile internet, and deployed thousands of police in and around the area. Other detainees included YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, who was held at his residence in Gurugram, and Ratna Singh, the CJP's legal team head. The Cockroach Janta Party demanded the "immediate and unconditional release" of its leaders.

Brief written by urgent.news from Free Malaysia Today, Live Mint, ABC News AU, The Indian Express — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.