NEW DELHI: Police detained India’s ‘cockroach’ movement founder Abhijeet Dipke on Friday, live images from his group showed, ahead of a protest called by him in capital Delhi’s central business district, the latest rally to demand the resignation of India’s election chief.
Earlier, authorities closed a central New Delhi park before the protest.
Organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), the campaign has become the focal point of opposition anger over allegations that the revised rolls favour Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party.
The Election Commission of India, which oversees voting in the world’s most populous nation, has denied any wrongdoing.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke had urged supporters to rally at the capital’s Central Park after two of his colleagues were detained for breaching security barricades at Jantar Mantar, where they had gone to wave the national flag.
Earlier this week, police removed authorisation for Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site.
On Friday, thousands of security personnel were deployed in parts of the city, with yellow-coloured metal barricades put up at key intersections.
