Indian court extends custody of 'Cockroach' movement leaders

An Indian court said on Monday that two “Cockroach” movement leaders would stay in prison for two more days, local media reported, after they were detained last week for demonstrating at a historic protest venue in violation of a ban, Reuters reported.

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das were among 14 people who scaled barricades on Tuesday 13 October to enter the Jantar Mantar observatory — a day after it was removed from a list of designated protest sites. They unfurled the Indian flag and chanted slogans demanding the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a revision of voter lists, before police detained them and a court sent them to prison for five days. On Monday evening, a local court extended their judicial custody by two days after Delhi Police requested more time to question them. Delhi Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“This is an absolute mockery of the judicial system,” the group’s legal head, Ratna Singh, told reporters outside the court, adding they would challenge the order in a higher court.

The youth-led CJP has held near-daily protests this month over voter-list changes it says favour Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. The Election Commission has denied favouring any party and said wrongly deleted voters can re-enrol, while the BJP has accused rivals of trying to undermine democracy by wrongly questioning legitimate electoral processes.

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, student leaders and several supporters were also detained on Friday 16 October as hundreds poured into central Delhi for a protest in support of Das and Ranka. The “Cockroach” movement has emerged as one of the biggest political challenges to Modi and his BJP in his 12 years in power.

This is a follow-up to Flip News’s earlier coverage of the Cockroach movement, including our 17 October report on Dipke’s detention.