Indian police arrested Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party, on Saturday, following his detention ahead of a protest demanding the resignation of the country’s chief election commissioner, media reports said.
Dipke was reportedly arrested to prevent a breach of the peace and was expected to appear before a Special Executive Magistrate.
The movement has staged near-daily protests this month, accusing election officials of unfairly revising voter lists in a way that allegedly favors Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Election Commission has denied political bias, saying voters mistakenly removed from the lists can re-enroll.
Student activist Neha Bora, who was also detained during Friday’s demonstrations, was released on Saturday and called for the suspension of the voter-list revision process.
The protests intensified after two movement leaders were jailed for five days over demonstrations that allegedly violated restrictions at a protest site.
The movement has also organized sit-ins earlier this year, which reportedly contributed to the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan amid a controversy over exam paper leaks.
