Three leaders of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) were taken into custody by Delhi Police on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, when they attempted to enter Jantar Mantar, according to The Hindu. The detained leaders were identified as Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and Ajinkya Shinde.
Das said after his detention that the three had been moved to Jaffarpur Police Station. The detentions came as demonstrations against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar continued in the capital over allegations of irregularities in how the Election Commission of India (ECI) functions.
The Delhi High Court was also scheduled on Tuesday to take up petitions asking for standard operating procedures to govern protests, so that businesses and lawyers are not disrupted. The court planned to hear the matter at the end of its board while it waits for directions from the Supreme Court, which is examining a plea on similar questions.
Why it matters
The detentions and the court proceedings sit at the centre of a wider confrontation over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the conduct of the poll body. Opposition parties say the exercise led to large-scale voter deletions, a charge they have taken to the Supreme Court. The government's response — barricades, detentions and a large paramilitary presence in Delhi — has turned the dispute into a test of how far the state can restrict assembly in the capital.
Senior Advocate Sachin Puri told the High Court that recent protests had cost traders more than ₹2,000 crore, with areas such as Connaught Place becoming unreachable during the demonstrations. That argument forms part of the case for clearer protest rules.
Police seek longer paramilitary deployment
Delhi Police have asked the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to extend the deployment of 273 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in the capital until October 20, sources said on Tuesday. The deployment had been due to end on Monday.
In a letter to the ministry, police said the extension was needed to keep order and to handle any situation that might arise, citing possible protests by the CJP and other organisations.
According to a source, 301 CAPF companies in total had been approved for Delhi — 221 cleared on October 6 and another 80 on October 8. Of the additional 80, 28 had not reported to Delhi Police as of Monday, the sources said. Police have flagged the possibility of demonstrations at several sensitive locations.
How protesters reached the site
A senior Delhi Police officer told The Hindu that protesters had entered the Jantar Mantar area through eateries and food stalls near the protest site, after a video posted by Abhijit Dipke showed CJP protesters carrying a flag there.
The officer said the shops serve as regular eating places for employees in nearby offices and stay open to the public, except on days when major protest calls are made, such as October 10. Jantar Mantar has been de-notified as a protest site, the officer said, making demonstrations there illegal. The protesters were detained immediately and further action was under way, the officer added.
Two FIRs and a stalled petition
Delhi Police registered two FIRs on Tuesday at Barakhamba Road and Tilak Marg police stations in connection with the Opposition's march to the Supreme Court against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, officials said. Police said no permission had been granted for the march, and that several opposition leaders were allegedly seen breaking police barricades with the help of a mini-truck during Monday's protest, according to PTI.
A petition filed by opposition leaders led by Rahul Gandhi was not listed for hearing on October 13. The petition seeks full disclosure of ECI records and decisions on the SIR, along with an independent probe into allegations that Gyanesh Kumar exercised power unilaterally, leading to voter deletions and modifications. It was filed on Monday evening as Gandhi led a march to the Supreme Court, where he and other leaders from across the opposition spectrum came to the registry to mark their presence as petitioners.
The Supreme Court registry flagged more than 10 defects in the petition on October 12, which The Hindu described as routine clerical issues that left the matter unlisted for Tuesday.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, one of the petitioners, said errors could be corrected. He said the petitioners, including all the parties that took part in Monday's protest, want Gyanesh Kumar's resignation, an end to what he called scams in the Election Commission, and the restoration of 13 crore deleted votes.
The protests followed two days of a crackdown, after which a large crowd marched through Central Delhi. Opposition figures, activists and civil society members took part in a "March for Democracy" along a heavily barricaded route, and filed a joint petition against the SIR and alleged poll irregularities.
The Supreme Court has issued orders on the review of detentions made during the Delhi protests, explaining preventive detention, Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and related constitutional safeguards. Preventive detention refers to holding a person without trial or conviction, with the aim of preventing a future offence rather than punishing a past one.
What to watch: whether the High Court issues protest SOPs, whether the CAPF deployment is extended past October 20, and when the Supreme Court takes up the opposition petition on the SIR.
