India court orders release of 'cockroach' movement leaders after detention

An Indian court has ordered the release of three leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party, a youth-led movement. Abhijeet Dipke, the founder, and other leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, were detained ahead of a large protest in Delhi over alleged irregularities in voter-roll revisions.

The detentions were part of a broader crackdown ahead of the protest, with authorities closing over 50 metro stations and canceling many trains bound for two major railway stations in the capital. However, the Supreme Court later directed the government not to completely stop train services and not to have a blanket closure of metro stations.

The court hearing that led to the release of the three leaders was one of several proceedings related to the protest and the detentions. The court was also set to hear petitions challenging the detentions of thousands of protesters and opposition party leaders.

Brief written by urgent.news from France 24, DW News, DW English (Top Stories) — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.