Indian police detain CJP leaders

India's "cockroach" youth movement leaders were detained on Tuesday after they jumped barricades to enter a historic Delhi site popular for protests, demanding that the chief election commissioner resign over a revision of voter lists.

Supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and opposition groups have held almost daily protests this month to demand commissioner Gyanesh Kumar stand down over the revisions critics say favour Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by removing the names of millions of voters.

The Election Commission has denied favouring any party and said wrongly deleted voters can re-enrol, while the BJP has accused rivals of trying to undermine democracy by wrongly questioning legitimate electoral processes.

Thousands joined a protest march by opposition groups on Monday, after a clampdown foiled CJP plans for a weekend demonstration, with police detaining thousands of protesters, including CJP leaders.

Delhi Police announced on Monday that the Jantar Mantar open air observatory, in the national capital's central business district, was no longer designated as an official protest site, and said three new venues had been identified.

The CJP said its leaders Ashutosh Ranka, Saurav Das, and Ajinkya Shinde were among about 20 people who "sneaked" inside the observatory to "reclaim" it and were detained.

A CJP livestream showed about a dozen people jumping a gate and barricades to reach the site, where they waved the Indian flag and chanted slogans before police detained them. Delhi Police did not respond to a request for comment.

The youth movement, which has mobilised protests in recent months against issues ranging from government school infrastructure to jobs, is among the biggest political challenges to Modi and his BJP in his 12 years in power.

A weeks-long sit-in by its supporters at Jantar Mantar earlier this year forced the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over exam paper leaks.

Sporadic demonstrations broke out elsewhere on Tuesday, including in Delhi's business hub Connaught Place, where television footage showed dozens of members of the student unit of the

main opposition Congress party being hauled into buses by police as they

attempted to stage a sit-in protest.