Indian Court Extends Detention of ‘Cockroach’ Party Leaders
Source reports published 19 Oct 2026, 10:00 am AEST
An Indian court extended the detention of two leaders of the ‘Cockroach’ Janta Party (CJP), Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, following their arrest at a protest. The activists were detained amid ongoing demonstrations demanding the resignation of the election chief.
What happened
- An Indian court extended the detention of Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, leaders of the ‘Cockroach’ Janta Party (CJP), for two more days.
- The detention followed their arrest on Friday at a protest at Jantar Mantar observatory in New Delhi, where they attempted to enter a restricted area despite a ban.
- Ratna Singh, the CJP’s legal head, criticized the judicial system’s actions.
- The CJP has been leading near-daily protests demanding the resignation of India’s election chief, Gyanesh Kumar, over a voter list revision that critics allege favors the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
- Simultaneously, a 15-year-old girl, identified as R, was harassed after making profane remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the same protest.
- Following the incident, she faced threats, doxing, and was compelled to issue an apology.
- The BJP criticized the protesters’ language, and Modi publicly addressed the situation.
- The protests continued, now focused on the controversial electoral rolls revision.
Original reporting
- Al Jazeera: Indian court extends detention of ‘Cockroach’ leaders
2026-10-19T00:00:00+00:00 - Guardian: She was harassed for crude remarks about Modi at a Cockroach protest. Now she can’t leave home
2026-10-19T00:00:00+00:00