Police detained scores of protesters and their leaders in the Indian capital on Saturday (October 10) amid patrols by thousands of security forces, with travel and telecoms links suspended, in a lockdown to stop a youth protest asking the election chief to resign.

The protest by the "Cockroach" youth movement aimed to draw thousands of demonstrators against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a revision of voter lists that critics say favours Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party.

"We are neither against any politician nor any party. We are against flawed policies,” said an unnamed female protester moments before she was dragged away from the rally by police.

India's former Kerala state chief Pinarayi Vijayan and other opposition leaders also arrived in the Jantar Mantar protest site and was later seen leaving on a police vehicle.

Police also detained 'Cockroach Janta Party' founder Abhijeet Dipke and senior leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka as the aircraft bringing them to Delhi arrived from Mumbai, CJP said in a statement.

The protest, which the CJP called an effort to "Save Democracy," was planned as the biggest of a series of demonstrations launched last week after the Indian Express newspaper said Kumar's deputies had queried and disagreed with him over list revisions that dropped about 130 million voters.

On Friday, Delhi police said they had not given permission for the protest and violators would face the law, but the CJP pushed through with its plan on grounds of exercising a fundamental right.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

NEW DELHI, INDIA (OCTOBER 10, 2026) (ANI - No use India)

1. PROTESTERS RUNNING FROM POLICE

2. POLICE PERSONNEL GATHERED AROUND BUS AS PROTESTERS ARE BEING PUSHED INSIDE

3. PROTESTERS PACKED IN BUS’ ENTRANCE

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) PROTESTER, NAME NOT GIVEN, SAYING:

"We are neither against any politician nor any party. We are against flawed policies. There has been an infringement of our right to vote. I am raising my voice in the interest of my nation, not for my own personal reasons, and we will keep fighting."

5. FEMALE PROTESTER BEING DRAGGED BY POLICE AND PUSHED ONTO VEHICLE AFTER INTERVIEW

6. VARIOUS OF MEDIA GATHERING AROUND INDIA'S FORMER KERALA STATE CHIEF PINARAYI VIJAYAN AND OTHER OPPOSITION LEADERS ARRIVING AT JANTAR MANTAR PROTEST SITE

7. VIJAYAN SPEAKING TO MEDIA

8. POLICE VEHICLE CARRYING VIJAYAN MOVING

9. POLICE PERSONNEL AND MEDIA GATHERED AROUND BUS

10. PROTESTERS BEING PACKED INSIDE BUS AS POLICE PERSONNEL ARE GATHERED AROUND

11. PROTESTER ON BUS SPEAKING TO POLICEMAN THEN BEING PUSHED INSIDE

12. BUS CARRYING DETAINED PROTESTERS LEAVING

13. (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF POLICE TRAFFIC, VIKASH KUMAR, SAYING:

"My appeal to the public is to follow the law. Section 163 BNSS (Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita - which restricts gatherings) is applicable here. So please do not gather, do not protest because protest is currently banned here."

14. VARIOUS OF RAPID ACTION FORCE PERSONNEL BEING DEPLOYED