NEW DELHI: A court in New Delhi on Sunday ordered the release of three leaders of India’s “Cockroach” movement, including its founder Abhijeet Dipke, a lawyer said, a day after they were detained ahead of a protest against the country’s election commissioner.
Lawyer Ratna Singh confirmed that Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka had been released by an executive magistrate court.
The detentions came as thousands of protesters attempted to march towards New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar protest site, demanding the resignation of Election Commission chief Gyanesh Kumar and a halt to the nationwide voter roll revision exercise.
Movement leader Ajinkya Shinde claimed that more than 15,000 protesters had been detained, while Indian media reported lower figures. The numbers could not be independently verified, and police had not immediately responded to requests for comment.
Opposition parties and critics have accused the Election Commission of conducting the voter revision in a way that could disenfranchise millions of people and benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The commission has rejected allegations of wrongdoing, saying the exercise aims to remove duplicate and ineligible voters.
Authorities imposed extensive security measures ahead of the demonstration, including metro station closures, train cancellations and a temporary mobile internet shutdown near the protest site.