India: Top leader of 'Cockroach' movement arrested

Indian police arrested Abhijeet Dipke on Friday, leader of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), ahead of new protests demanding the removal of the country's election chief, according to a social media post by the movement.

Dipke, 31, was arrested shortly before a protest organized by the online movement in Central Park, in Connaught Place, a bustling commercial district in the heart of New Delhi.

"Abhijeet has been detained by the Delhi police! This government is very afraid of young people waving the national flag!" the Supreme Court president said on social media.

Both the group and opposition parties have been demanding the resignation of the chairman of India's electoral commission over a large-scale revision of the voter rolls that they claim favors the ruling party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Election Commission of India, which oversees elections in the world's most populous country, has denied any irregularities.

Dipke had urged his followers to carry national flags and gather in Central Park after two of his colleagues were arrested for breaching security barricades at Jantar Mantar, a protest site declared a restricted zone by police this week.

Thousands of security personnel were deployed Friday in downtown Delhi, and police warned protesters to stay away, citing orders restricting public gatherings.

Over the past week, the Indian capital has been the scene of several street protests against the voter list revision, overseen by the chairman of the Election Commission, Gyanesh Kumar.

According to figures released by the Indian media and cited by opposition parties in court documents, more than 133 million names have been removed from the voter rolls as part of this process.

Election authorities claim the measure was intended to eliminate duplicate, deceased and fraudulent registrations.