Delhi Riots 2026 - Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest, NEET re-exam, FCRA Amendment Bill

Delhi Riots 2026 - Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest
Date	Jul 20, 2026
Location	Primarily Jantar Mantar and Sansad Marg New Delhi; also in some other parts of the country.
Goals	Under the guise of a student protest carry out a regime change operation with foreign funds and anti-national elements
Status	Event Aftermath Ongoing
Lead figures
Abhijeet Dipke, Sonam Wangchuk, Saurav Das,
Casualties
Death(s)	None

In June 2026, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest began as a student-led agitation against a NEET exam paper leak. Within weeks, however, it descended into regime-change riots drawing in members from opposition backed, foreign funded, anti-India and left-Islamist eco-systems who mobilized on the streets of Jantar Mantar, Delhi and some other parts of Bharat. Anarchists leveraged the student cover to create mayhem, injured over 280 security force personnel, weakened institutions and vandalized property.


On Jul 25, 2026 the Union government however, took a step to de-escalate the confrontation and let off all the protesters with a promise not to frame charges in return for an end to the protest. This was despite the massive amount of incriminating video evidence and the near lynching of a number of security forces, journalists and civilians and the immense damage to property wreaked by the rioting.

Some saw the government’s climb down as an attempt to allow for the passage of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026 in the Parliament which will cut foreign funding to NGO's that may be diverted to similar disruptions in future.

On Jul 28, the Supreme Court directed Delhi and six states to proceed with the investigation of the FIRs registered. No further coercive action was to be taken against students except those with criminal antecedents. Additionally, children under 18 were to be released from jail or detention if they did not have criminal antecedents.

The CJP’s selective outrage on examination reform and student welfare exposed its hypocrisy. While Delhi’s protests were amplified into a national movement, CJP leaders and allied opposition parties ignored similar paper leak scandals in Congress, AAP and JMM ruled states. The agitation was exposed for being less about protecting students and more about regime change.

The Context-2026 NEET Exam Paper Leak and Re-Exam

May 3, the Undergraduate National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) exam was conducted. Over 2.27 million aspirants took the exam.

NEET is a single national entrance exam for MBBS/BDS courses, replacing the All-India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) and many state-level exams. It is the biggest exam in India in terms of number of aspirants.

A paper leak was reported. Investigation revealed significant overlaps between a pre-circulated guess paper and the actual question paper. It led to the arrest of several people, primarily insiders from the National Testing Authority (NTA) who had leaked the paper to students in coaching classes.

A guess paper or question bank being shared through WhatsApp and other channels in coaching centers like Sikar, Rajasthan, closely matched many questions in the NEET exam, especially in Chemistry and Biology. There was an overlap of up to 140 questions.

May 12, the compromised exam was cancelled and a re-examination scheduled. CBI was appointed to probe case. Decision was taken to make NEET a Computer-Based Test (CBT) format from 2027 onwards.

May 15, the NTA announced the re-examination would take place on 21 Jun 2026.

Jun 21, NEET-UG exam re-conducted seamlessly. Close to 20 lac candidates appeared and 11.21 lac qualified. Candidates appeared from every State and Union Territory of the country, in 13 languages. More than 58% of the qualified candidates were women..

Jul 16, NEET re-exam results declared.

CJP Riots, Brutality and Vandalism:

Jun 6, CJP launched a protest at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi.

Jul 18, under Delhi High Court directions, Delhi Police escorted Wangchuk from the protest stage to hospital.

Jul 20, with the commencement of Parliament's Monsoon Session, CJP launched a ‘Sansad Chalo’ (March to Parliament).

Over the next six days, the protest wreaked mayhem. Unprovoked mobs brutalized the security forces, injured civilians and journalists, attacked people wearing saffron clothes, vandalized police and private property, pelted stones on a temple and petrol pump, displayed vulgarity, raised abusive slogans and hurled profanities at the Hindu Gods, the Prime Minister, elected leaders of the Government, RSS and the Indian Army and security forces and. Slogans in support of Azadi, Umar Khalid and the Muslim faith were raised.

Radical agitators operating under the guise of a student protest circulated manipulated videos against the Prime Minister, Police and the Armed Forces.

The student protest descended into chaos spreading disinformation, anti-national rhetoric, vulgarity and violence.

Jul 29, Delhi Police confirmed that 2,873 individuals with prior criminal records were present at the CJP riots. It identified them using facial recognition technology and surveillance cameras at Jantar Mantar. These included people previously booked for murder, rape, robbery and other serious offences.

Attacks on Security Forces:

Abuse and Vulgar Attacks on Hindu Gods, Prime Minister and Security Forces:

An extended exhibition of vulgarity, obscenity and open-sewage-gutter-level abuse was on display at the CJP protest. It exposed the shallow minds, woeful upbringing, compulsive need for internet viewership and low self-worth of many protesters. This was followed by retribution and shaming by civil society in India and resulted in multiple voluntary apologies from the miscreants which were screened on TV channels and the web.

Former Police Officers Press Conference:

Jul 31, former Delhi Police officers, under the banner of the Delhi Police Mahasangh, along with ex-UP DGP held a protest and press conference at the Press Club of India in New Delhi. A Mahasangh spokesperson declared that even if the government withdrew FIRs against CJP rioters for injury to security personnel, the officer or their families would file FIRs in individual capacities. He added that the CJP protest organisers had provided a written undertaking prior to the gathering taking full responsibility to keep the crowd under control. The Mahasangh warned its breach would be pursued legally. Every drop of blood of the security personnel, shed in the unprovoked violence by CJP rioters would be avenged.

A number of heart-rending video testimonies of children of injured officers also surfaced showing the brutal and severe nature of injuries inflicted on officers who served the nation and were tasked on the frontlines to maintain law and order. A claim has surfaced that a pregnant policewoman also suffered a miscarriage in the violence.

Foreign Hand and Funding for CJP Riots:

US Links - the birth of the CJP had a striking synchronicity with the US' display of consternation about India's restriction of foreign funding to local disruptions through the proposed FCRA Bill.

May 7, USCIRF held a hearing titled 'Deteriorating Religious Freedom Conditions in India' in Washington DC. At the hearing US politician, Chris Smith, submitted that, 'During its Monsoon Session from Jul 21 to Aug 12, the Indian Parliament is set to consider a bill amending India’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. If adopted, the bill would sharply expand the ability of the Indian state to seize the property and assets of groups that receive foreign funding – the vast majority of these being Christian churches and charities, such as hospitals and schools. In effect, the total property of entire churches and dioceses could soon be at risk of being taken over by the Indian state.'

Smith had put out the dates before even the Indian Lok or Rajya Sabha Secretariats had announced them, hinting at an intelligence operation. The Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Kiren Rijuju announced the dates as late as Jul 4th.

May 15, Supreme Court Chief Justice Surya Kant said unemployed youngsters become 'media persons, social media users, RTI activists and other activists' who 'start attacking everyone', likening them to 'cockroaches'.

May 16, CJP website and media handles got created. Abhijit Dipke emerged announcing himself as a communication specialist from Boston University. Withing five days CJP garners 22 million followers on the internet which reeks of a 'bot and bought' campaign. Major support bases of CJP followers are from locations such as Kansas, Ivory Coast and Palestinian Territories, not India.

There are no documented, real-world examples of an unknown individual or entity organically reaching 22 million Instagram followers in five days. The digital impossibility implicates the campaign.

May 23, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s four-day visit to India created a political stir as he landed directly in Kolkata instead of the national capital, New Delhi and went straight to the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity, founded by Mother Teresa. Missionaries of Charity has been at the centre of intense Indian government surveillance, foreign funding restrictions, and serious allegations of violations of law including induced and forced conversions and selling babies, over the past few years.

May 29, CJP announces it would start an on the ground agitation in India. Prominent anti-FCRA voices and activists Arvind Kejriwal, Harsh Mandar, Prashant Bhushan, Shabana Azmi, Anjali Bhardwaj, KC Venugopal, John Brittas, Yogendra Yadav and Prakash Raj rally to support CJP.

Jul 17, the US Embassy in Delhi released an advisory before actual events transpired predicting that a massive crowd would take over the surrounding Jantar Mantar, Parliament House, and Kishan Ghat in Delhi on July 20 and 21. An alliance of approximately 250 national farmer organizations had planned to arrive in New Delhi on motorcycles and assemble at Kisan Ghat. This fuelled speculation that the protest was preplanned and if it was US sponsored. ‘Substantial disruptions' were expected on the first day of the Parliament’s Monsoon Session where the Foreign Contribution Regulation Bill 2.0 (FCRA 2.0) among other bills would be considered for introduction.

Jul 23, the Ministry of Home Affairs ordered US web platform GitHub to disable access to three specific repositories of the BitChat messaging application within three hours. The order was issued after reports of widespread use of the platform during the Cockroach Janta Party protests in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. The notice stated BitChat's architecture significantly impeded lawful interception, attribution and investigation, of communication and created a substantial risk of misuse by anti-national elements, terrorist organisations and others seeking to coordinate unlawful assemblies, violent protests or circumvent lawful restrictions during internet shutdowns and situations of public disorder. BitChat creator Jack Dorsey, who was also the former co-founder and CEO of Twitter, strongly objected to the takedown.

Parallels with the US Deep State's involvement in the violent Nepali protests that overthrew the KP Sharma Oli government in 2025 can't be ruled out. The US Deep State had exploited genuine youth anger, amplified it through covert networks, and directed it towards destabilising a government that did not align with their strategic interests.

Left-Islamist organizations like the Students Federation of India (SFI), the AISF, and even the LGBTQ+ protest actors were taking a lead in holding protests at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi.

Sonam Wankchuk – fasted for 26 days as part of the protest as one of its leaders.

Wangchuk had been talking about creating Nepal-regime-change-like violence in India and instigating the people against the Indian government. His threats are linked to the cancellation of his NGO’s FCRA licence in by the Ministry of Home Affairs Government in September 2025 for misuse of foreign funds. The Ladakh Director General of Police, S D Singh Jamwal had accused Wangchuk of being a key person behind violence in 2025 that resulted in the killing of four people and injuring 80. Wangchuk was also arrested for allegedly having Pakistan links.

Back in 2007 a Congress government had also exposed Sonam Wangchuk of misappropriation of foreign funds and having anti-national links with China. It had also accused Wangchuk of illegal occupation of 200 kanals of land without paying government dues.

Abhijit Dipke - He is said to have conceptualized the CJP while in the US at the time the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee publicly expressed concerns over India's proposed FCRA amendment. He returned to India to spearhead the agitation.

In the past Dipke has expressed support for Umar Khalid and the Tukde Tukde gang. Dipke is not a NEET student and has not revealed the nature of his work or purpose of stay in the US.

Saurav Das – got foreign funds for anti-India articles. He is a far-left journalist who has backed urban Naxal-linked agitators, consistently defended accused individuals such as Umar Khalid, and written pieces attacking senior judges and the government’s national-security decisions. He had a public meltdown over the Ayodhya Ram Mandir verdict. OpIndia has published extensive critical coverage of his dismal record and ideological positions.

Das has earlier faced scrutiny for funding links to foreign and non-governmental foundations. A 2023 exposé by The Pamphlet showed that he received support from the Thakur Family Foundation for public health reporting, though his published articles reportedly extended to political topics that are anti-India and anti-government. He also had floated a climate outfit whose connections he is now denies.

Das received a reporting grant from the Pulitzer Centre after the US based group had secured nearly $30 million in multi-year funding support in 2023 for the project “The Dirty Business of India’s Police.” The project examined police shootouts and alleged extrajudicial killings in Uttar Pradesh — a state where supporters of the current government argue that aggressive policing, including encounters, has led to a substantial reduction in crime compared to earlier years.

Das' Indian citizenship has been called in question after Abhijit Iyer-Mitra alleged that he had a Nepalese biological father. Das had failed the CLAT exam three times. His residence in a 9,000 sqft Greater Kailash-1 property renting for an estimated ₹9-10 lac monthly and an expensive lifestyle without a full-time job have raised eyebrows. He is known to regularly attend high-profile events with AAP leaders including Arvind Kejriwal.

Shabana Azmi – Azmi appeared at Jantar Mantar on Ju 19 to express solidarity with the CJP.

Azmi chairs the Governing Board of the NGO ActionAid Association (India). It received ₹108 crore in foreign funds for the year ending Mar 2007, categorized under ‘Religious (Christian)’. ActionAid originated in the UK in 1972 as a Christian charity and later repositioned itself as secular.

Mohammed Junaid Malik became a visible figure at the CJP’s Jantar Mantar protest by serving free food and snacks for 35 days. His known sources of income appeared insufficient to cover the cost, leading to police detention and questioning about funding. Separately, Junaid was earlier arrested in a Jaish‑e‑Mohammed radicalisation probe. His background includes links to a crime‑ridden village, prior violent incidents, and alleged sympathies for extremist groups — raising serious questions about the funding and motives behind his role in the protest.

Influencers – Screen shots circulated on social media of offers to influencers of ₹65,000 for a single reel and story on the CJP campaign.

It also came out that three high-end corporate media influencer marketing companies were hired to push the CJP protest content.

Nearly 10,000 social media posts were reportedly published in support of the CJP riots.

On Jul 23, Actress Akansha Puri, levelled grave allegations of money being offered to members of her fraternity in lieu of being a part of the ongoing protests. She said ‘people who are with me, actors, content creators, they all know that a lot of people, a lot of parties are approaching us to make this a part of marketing, get seen, go to the rally…I don't want to be a part of this garbage.’

Toolkits - A number Toolkits were circulating coaching rioters on how to carry out anti-national protests and evade police arrest.

Arnab Goswami interviewed Apar Gupta, founder of the Internet Freedom Foundation who put out a toolkit on how to avoid police detection. The ‘toolkit’ suggested measures such as protestors should leave their primary phones at home, lock off any phones fingerprint, face-recognition and unlock features, putting phones into airplane mode and to power-off when police contact looks likely, using encrypted messaging apps like Signal and wearing masks and caps. The toolkit raises obvious questions on why organisations are being allowed to circulate toolkits on how to create disruptive and violent protests in India and who funds them.

Proposed Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026 (FRCA 2.0):

The proposed FRCA 2.0 seeks to amend the existing FCRA Act governing the receipt and utilisation of foreign contributions to India. One of the key provisions under discussion is the creation of a designated authority empowered to take control of assets created using foreign funds if an organisation’s FCRA registration is cancelled, surrendered or ceases to exist.

Amendments are intended to strengthen oversight of foreign funding and ensure that foreign contributions do not adversely affect national security, public order or national interests.

FCRA requires NGOs that receive foreign funds to disclose their sources of funding, maintain separate accounts and submit periodic financial reports.

CJP Protest Linked Terror Plots Unravelled:

Jul 30, one Hamim Mondal, from Purba Bardhaman, West Bengal West was arrested by Bengal Special Task Force for his links with the Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). His JEM Handler had asked Mondal to procure police uniforms and lead a group into the Jantar Mantar CJP protests to create unrest. The STF also recovered international SIM cards issued in the United Kingdom and Mexico from the accused. Officials suspect these SIM cards were used to exchange encrypted messages with handlers and other sleeper cells.

Aug 5, Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar's team busted two ISI-backed terror modules and arrested nine accused individuals. The recoveries included four petrol bombs, three pistols, a motorcycle, a lighter and live cartridges.

Bhullar revealed that one terror module had travelled to Jantar Mantar to the CJP protest site. Their ISI handlers provided the module with logistical support and materials to make petrol bombs at Delhi. However, they were unable to execute their planned attack and were subsequently apprehended during a multi-module bust by the Punjab Police.

Aug 7, Punjab's ruling AAP government transferred Bhullar, days after his teams success and disclosure triggering speculation that AAP was sensitive to aspersions being cast on the CJP protest at Jantar Mantar.

Initial Investigation and Arrests:

Prior to May 12, investigations identified 42 out of 45 questions from a mock paper traced to a coaching institute in Latur appeared in the actual test. This led to the arrest of Dr Shubham Khairnar from Nashik, Maharashtra who acquired the papers from a primary source and distributed them to students for ₹15 lacs.

Post May 12, the CBI officially took over the investigation. CBI arrested several individuals, including:

PV Kulkarni, Pune-based chemistry professor had access to the question papers as he was involved in the NTA as a translator. Kulkarni was allegedly running special classes where exam questions were dictated along with their correct answers.

Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, biology professor. Questions in handwritten notes by students who attended these classes were found to match the actual exam.

Shivraj Motegaonkar, owner of Renukai Chemistry Classes Coaching Institute in Latur, Maharashtra’s. Motegaonkar had received the chemistry questions in April 2026. Later, he was also seen in a video where the mock questions he gave to his students featured in the actual exam.

Manisha Sanjay Havaldar, headmistress of a Pune based school, was arrested by the CBI on 22 May 2026 for supposedly leaking the physics question paper, which later appeared in the actual exam. She had access to these questions because she was appointed as a subject expert by the NTA.

Tejas Harshadkumar Shah, received the leaked questions from Havaldar and eventually passed them on to Shirure. Shirure and Kulkarni allegedly conducted special coaching sessions for students whose families paid between ₹2 lacs to ₹10 lacs each for each leaked question.

CBI investigators found evidence that the NEET UG 2025 question paper was also compromised by the same racket responsible for the 2026 leak.

Key Government Measures for Better Education after CJP Riots:

Jul 23, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that his government will set up fast-track courts to ensure swift and stringent punishment for those involved in paper leak cases.

Education Secretary Vineet Joshi was transferred to the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and replaced by Naresh Pal Gangwar on 23 July 2026.

Jul 24, the Union Cabinet approved an anti-paper leak bill which proposes stricter punishment, increased jail time and higher fines for the accused.

47 NTA officials were removed. Some of those removed were also to face legal or criminal action.

Jul 25, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns taking responsibility for the NEET paper leak and CJP riots. PM Modi accepts his resignation. CJP protest does not end. Comes up with new demands.

Aug 1, The Bill amending Anti-Paper Leak Law received the President's assent and became a Law. Both Houses of the Parliament had passed it a few days earlier. The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Act, 2026, seeks to establish fast-track courts in every state for the expeditious trial of accused persons and to increase penalties in cases involving leaks of public examination question papers.

An excellent measure among others that the government/NTA introduced prior to the violence in the CJP protest on Jul 20th, was the isolation/lockdown of NEET re-exam paper setters for approximately 20 days before the test, to prevent questions from being leaked.

CJP Protest Closure and Government Compromise:

Jul 25, CJP called off the protest after 37 days of agitation. In addition to Pradhan's resignation, BJP leaders assured CJP that no action will be taken against organisers and protestors, and no new cases would be registered in connection with the agitation. All FIRs filed against the protesters, in Delhi and in other BJP-ruled and BJP-allied states, would be withdrawn shortly. The government will share copies of all the FIRs filed.

15 to 20 FIRs had been filed in Delhi.

The government also agreed to consider CJP’s 5-point exam reform charter that included the enactment of a New Public Examinations (Transparency. Accountability and Candidates' Rights) Act, under which minimum punishment for organised paper leak networks will be increased from 3 years to 10 years, with confiscation of illegal proceeds, higher fines and permanent debarment. It also agreed to consider a demand for compensation of ₹1 crore for each suicide victim of the NEET exam.

Supreme Court Orders:

Jul 28, the Supreme Court via its interim order directed Delhi and six states to proceed with the investigation of the FIRs registered. No further coervice action was to be taken against students except those with criminal antecedents. Additionally children under 18 were to be released from jail or detention if they did not have criminal antecedents.

The police was effectively allowed to keep students arrested before July 28 in jail and detention where they were above 18 or had criminal antecedents. Jail, detention or coercive action on students after Jul 28, except those with criminal antecedents, was barred.

Jul 30, the Supreme Court declared that a blanket ban cannot be imposed on pellet guns for crowd control. They remain permitted in exceptional circumstances under existing police regulations. It was hearing a petition represented by Vrinda Grover in context of the CJP protest.

CJP's Hypocrisy of Examination Reform and Student Welfare:

The CJP’s selective outrage on examination reform and student welfare exposed its hypocrisy. While Delhi’s protests were amplified into a national movement, CJP leaders and allied opposition parties ignored similar paper leak scandals in Congress, AAP and JMM ruled states. Paper leaks had occurred in opposition ruled states of Jharkhand, Punjab, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Kerala but the CJP largely ignored these while aggressively targeting the central government in Delhi.

CJP leaders Dipke, Das, and Ranka spearheaded the Delhi protest but did not physically participate in the protests in Jharkhand, Punjab and Kerala nor did they press for education minister resignations and offered only minimal support to the protesting students in those states.

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