NEW DELHI (AP) — Two leaders of India’s “Cockroach” youth movement were sentenced by a local court to serve five days in jail after being detained during a protest demanding the resignation of the country’s election chief, the group said Wednesday.
Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das were among about a dozen people detained by police Tuesday after they climbed over barricades to enter the grounds of Jantar Mantar, a historic observatory in central New Delhi that has long been a site for protests.
Click to Gallery
FILE -Saurav Das, chief spokesperson of the Cockroach Janta Party, center, looks on as fellow spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka, right, shakes hands with India's Health Minister J.P. Nadda during a joint press conference in New Delhi, India, July 25, 2026, following the resignation of India's education minister. (AP Photo, File)
Protesters and commuters walk past graffiti on a road depicting allegations of vote theft during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in New Delhi, India, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Security personnel detain an activist from the student wing of the Congress party during a youth protest calling for the resignation of the country's election chief Gyanesh Kumar, in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Prabhat Mehrotra)
India's opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, center, and his sister, fellow lawmaker Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, lead opposition party leaders and workers in a march toward the Supreme Court demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in New Delhi, India, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo)
Workers and activists of various opposition parties march toward the Supreme Court demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in New Delhi, India, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026.(AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
FILE -Saurav Das, chief spokesperson of the Cockroach Janta Party, center, looks on as fellow spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka, right, shakes hands with India's Health Minister J.P. Nadda during a joint press conference in New Delhi, India, July 25, 2026, following the resignation of India's education minister. (AP Photo, File)
Police said this week that the site was no longer an official protest venue and accused Das and Ranka of trespassing and defying prohibitory orders.
The arrests follow a sweeping police crackdown over the weekend aimed at preventing mostly young Indians from gathering in New Delhi to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Police briefly detained thousands of demonstrators.
“Jantar Mantar belongs to the people of India. We will reclaim it,” opposition leader Rahul Gandhi wrote on X in a post condemning the arrests as “an act of cowardice.”
Protests have intensified over an ongoing nationwide revision of voter lists that has removed more than 130 million names since last year. Critics say the exercise is politically motivated and could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters.
The Election Commission and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration say the revision is intended to remove duplicate and ineligible entries.
Abhijeet Dipke, the “Cockroach” movement’s founder, criticized Modi in a post on X.
“If you’re so determined to crush dissent, have the courage to officially declare an Emergency instead of hiding behind these cowardly tactics,” Dipke wrote.
The “Cockroach” movement began as an online satirical campaign this summer after India’s chief justice compared unemployed young people to parasites. Many young Indians embraced the remark, adopting the cockroach as a symbol of resilience.
Protests led by the group forced the resignation of Modi’s education minister in July, a rare setback for the prime minister, who has been in power for more than 12 years.
Protesters and commuters walk past graffiti on a road depicting allegations of vote theft during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in New Delhi, India, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Security personnel detain an activist from the student wing of the Congress party during a youth protest calling for the resignation of the country's election chief Gyanesh Kumar, in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Prabhat Mehrotra)
India's opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, center, and his sister, fellow lawmaker Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, lead opposition party leaders and workers in a march toward the Supreme Court demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in New Delhi, India, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo)
Workers and activists of various opposition parties march toward the Supreme Court demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in New Delhi, India, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026.(AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
FILE -Saurav Das, chief spokesperson of the Cockroach Janta Party, center, looks on as fellow spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka, right, shakes hands with India's Health Minister J.P. Nadda during a joint press conference in New Delhi, India, July 25, 2026, following the resignation of India's education minister. (AP Photo, File)
HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — A former Ukrainian army officer goes on trial in Germany on Wednesday over undersea explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines linking Russia and Germany four years ago in what is considered one of Europe's biggest acts of sabotage since World War II.
The suspect faces charges of causing an explosion, damaging property, disrupting public service and being an “accomplice to war crimes” by attacking civilian infrastructure, according to prosecutors.
According to German privacy rules, the suspect will be identified in court only as Serhii K., although he was publicly named as Serhii Kuznietsov in extradition proceedings in Italy.
While international observers initially blamed Moscow, investigators have increasingly examined suggestions that Ukrainian state security agencies may have been involved — even though Ukraine counts Germany as one of its closest allies.
The trial of the suspect, who is believed to be the alleged ringleader of the attack, is being held under strict security measures at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in Hamburg.
According to the charges, the defendant was allegedly involved in causing the Sept. 26, 2022, explosions that damaged pipelines built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea.
At the time, European countries were moving to wean themselves off Russian energy sources, following the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Prosecutors say the aim of the plot was to permanently disrupt gas deliveries and prevent Russia from using the revenues to finance its military operations.
The defendant and others allegedly used a yacht that departed from the German port of Rostock. It had been rented from a German company using forged IDs and with the help of intermediaries.
The explosions ruptured the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which was Russia’s main natural gas supply route to Germany until Moscow cut off supplies in August 2022. They also damaged Nord Stream 2, which never entered service because Germany suspended its certification process shortly before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The suspect allegedly organized and carried out the detonation of at least four bombs between 14 and 27 kilograms (around 31 to 62 pounds) at a depth of 70 to 80 meters (230 feet to 263 feet) near the Danish island of Bornholm.
He was detained in 2025 in an Italian village, where officers raided a bungalow where he was staying with his family. Police said he surrendered without resistance. He was extradited to Germany in November.
A second suspect was arrested on a European warrant in the northern Croatian town of Pula in August. He has applied for asylum in Croatia to fight his extradition to Germany.
The pipelines were long a target of criticism by the U.S. and some of its allies, which warned that they increased dependence on Russian gas.
Russia has claimed that U.S. and British intelligence agencies were involved in staging the explosions and has also accused NATO of involvement in the attack, while several Western countries initially blamed Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has denied allegations that his country was involved in the pipeline blasts.
The German government has so far refrained from comment on the upcoming trial, pointing out that no verdict has yet been reached and the case is in the hands of the independent judiciary.
So far, 16 court dates have been scheduled through Dec. 17. Additional dates are also planned for January and February 2027. It is not yet known when the verdict will be announced.
The defendant, Serhii Kuznietsov, sits between his attorneys during a trial at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court, in Hamburg, Germany, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (Markus Scholz/dpa via AP)
The defendant, Serhii Kuznietsov, left, stands near his attorneys during a trial at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court, in Hamburg, Germany, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (Markus Scholz/dpa via AP)
Ukraine supporters gather at the entrance to the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court before the trial of Serhij K., a former Ukrainian army officer, in Hamburg, Germany, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (Markus Scholz/dpa via AP)
Ukraine supporters gather at the entrance to the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court ahead of the trial of Serhij K., a former Ukrainian army officer, in Hamburg, Germany, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (Markus Scholz/dpa via AP)
Journalists wait at the entrance to the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court before the trial of Serhij K., a former Ukrainian army officer, in Hamburg, Germany, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (Markus Scholz/dpa via AP)
FILE - In this picture provided by Swedish Coast Guard a leak from Nord Stream 2 is seen on Sept. 28, 2022. (Swedish Coast Guard via AP, File)
FILE - A suspect detained in Italy for the Nordstream pipelines bombing is lead from an helicopter to a motorcade to a court in Karlsruhe, Germany, Nov. 27, 2025. (Uli Deck/dpa via AP, File)
