India’s ‘Cockroach’ leaders jailed after entering ‘banned’ protest site
Two Cockroach Janta Party leaders have been jailed for five days after entering a banned protest site in India's Delhi.
India's Cockroach Janta Party leaders have been jailed for five days on Wednesday, as authorities intensified their crackdown on protests against alleged voter roll manipulation. The two activists, Ashutosh Ranka, 30, and Saurav Das, 27, were taken into custody for allegedly attempting to disrupt public peace and violate the law by waving the national flag at Jantar Mantar, a protest site barred by police.
CJP leaders and opposition parties have defied increased security measures to demand the resignation of India’s chief election commissioner, accusing the voter commission of tampering with voter rolls to favor Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party. The commission denies any wrongdoing. The electoral list revision, which has removed over 133 million names from the rolls, has been criticized by rights advocates and critics, who claim it disproportionately affects minorities, particularly Muslims.
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, from the Congress party, backed the jailed leaders, stating that jailing youth for peaceful protests is an act of cowardice.
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
