Indian court extends custody of 'Cockroach' movement leaders, local media says

An Indian court said on Monday 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. Cockroach Janta Party leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das were among 14 people who scaled barricades on Tuesday 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 chief election commissioner's resignation before police detained them, with a court later sending 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, local media reported.

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, opposition parties and ⁠left-wing student organisations ​have held near-daily protests ⁠this month demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation over a revision of voter lists that they say favours 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 of their supporters were also ⁠detained on Friday 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.

A weeks-long sit-in by the group and its supporters earlier this year forced the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over exam paper leaks. The latest demonstrations erupted after ⁠the Indian Express newspaper reported that Kumar's two deputies had raised concerns internally about voter list changes, registration procedures and digital systems.

The ⁠130 million names that were ⁠removed from voter lists starting last year — equivalent to more than the population of Japan — included 28 million people who have died, 63 million who have relocated and 30 million who ‌could not be ‌traced, according to the Election Commission.