Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka arrived at Delhi’s Mandir Marg Police Station on Friday afternoon, a day after skipping probe summons issued in connection with two cases filed against them.
As reported by HT earlier , Das and Ranka skipped the police summon to join the investigation in two cases against them and were to be issued another notice in the matter. He was accompanied by CJP’s legal affairs head Ratna Singh. It also flagged issues in the sureties filed by their counsel.
The group were detained within minutes and while the others were released within 24 hours, Das and Ranka were arrested in connection with a bond they had signed on October 11, which required them to maintain peace for a year. The duo was sent to a five-day judicial custody which was extended by two more days on October 19 as the magistrate court said that Das and Ranka ‘showed no respect for law’ .
Das stopped briefly outside the police station to respond to media questions and said that the future course of action would be decided after seeing how things turn out at the police. “Let’s see what happens here,” Das said when asked if he would approach the high court. “Earlier, they asked for a time extension and later, they didn’t come,” said one officer, adding that another notice to join the probe will be sent to all three of them.
A senior police officer said that the crime branch of the Delhi Police had issued a notice to Das, Ranka, and CJP member Ajinkya Shinde to join the probe on Thursday. On Wednesday, the special executive magistrate ordered the release of Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka from judicial custody after they agreed not to call any protests at Jantar Mantar until the site is re-notified as a designated protest site.
