Cockroach Janta Party founder says Instagram account was hacked.
Hours after controversy, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke claimed hackers took over his personal Instagram account completely.
Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), woke up on a fast-moving digital morning to find parts of his online life suddenly out of reach. The satirical, youth‑driven movement he helped launch — one that has captivated Gen Z and dominated political chatter on social platforms — reported fresh disruptions this week: Dipke says his personal Instagram account was hacked, and the party’s backup Instagram page was briefly taken down before being restored hours later.
The episode has unnerved supporters who have watched the CJP’s follower numbers surge and its posts spread across feeds at remarkable speed. For a party that built momentum online, social media access is more than publicity; it’s the main stage. Losing control of official channels, even temporarily, can stall outreach, confuse followers and, at a delicate moment, look like an attempt to silence a rising voice.
Dipke shared screenshots showing repeated, frustrated attempts to recover his personal account through Meta’s recovery process. Each time he clicked “recover it now,” the platform responded with the same automatic notice: “We locked your Instagram account for your safety. To recover your account, you’ll need to verify your identity and create a new password.” Despite following the steps, Dipke said he was unable to reclaim access — a situation that left him and many of the party’s online backers anxious and suspicious.
The timing and the mechanics of the disruption amplified concerns. The CJP, which mixes satire, pop-culture references and pointed political commentary, has become an irritant to established political conversations. That visibility has attracted both enthusiastic new members and intense scrutiny. When a founder’s account is suddenly unreachable, sympathisers imagine worst-case scenarios: coordinated attacks, system errors that disproportionately affect smaller movements, or deliberate takedowns masked as security measures.
Social media platforms have systems that automatically lock accounts if they detect unusual activity, such as logins from unfamiliar locations or mass changes in posting behaviour. Recovery processes can be slow, verification can be cumbersome, and automated locks sometimes trap legitimate users in bureaucratic limbo. For a movement gaining traction, those delays can be costly.
The party’s backup Instagram account being taken offline, even briefly, added fuel to the speculation. Party members reported the page went down and returned after several hours, leaving questions about whether the outage was a technical glitch, a coordinated attack, or content moderation action that the party disputes. Dipke and other CJP figures have so far stopped short of assigning blame publicly beyond reporting the account intrusions and the recovery difficulties.
Reactions have been swift online. Supporters rallied on alternative platforms, reposting content and urging followers to subscribe to other channels. Opponents and commentators debated whether the disruption was an inevitability of rapid online growth or evidence of targeted interference. Journalists pressed Meta for comment on Dipke’s claims and on why the recovery process had not restored his access.
For now, the immediate fallout is practical and emotional. Dipke has lost a direct line to many supporters; the party has briefly lost a backup outlet; and a young movement that prides itself on nimbleness now faces the consequences of the digital infrastructure it depends upon. The episode also underscores a broader lesson for online political actors: as influence grows, so do the risks — from hacks and platform errors to the complexities of content moderation and account recovery.
Dipke’s experience will likely prompt the CJP and similar groups to revisit security practices, diversify communication channels and press platforms for faster, clearer account recovery paths. Whatever the cause, the incident highlights how fragile modern political organizing can become when it relies heavily on a handful of corporate-controlled platforms.