A Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) on Wednesday sent Cockroach Janata Party ( CJP ) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka to five days of judicial custody after the Delhi Police argued that “there was a presumption that the accused might carry out a crime” if released, their counsel Abhisht Hela said.
CJP leader Ajinkya Shinde, meanwhile, was released on a personal bond. The incident came a day after the site lost its designated status as a protest venue. Track anti-CEC protest LIVE updates here. Shortly after the detention, Ranka shared a video on his X handle showing himself, Das and the outfit’s national organisation in-charge, Ajinkya Shinde, climbing the locked gates and entering the venue. Police personnel present at the site then intervened and took hold of them. “What is this, acting like cowards, imposing an unofficial emergency where you keep people in custody for five days just for waving the national flag at Jantar Mantar?
Das, Ranka, Ajinkya Shinde and 11 other CJP members reached Jantar Mantar on the morning of October 13 by trespassing through a private premise, according to a Delhi police spokesperson. Police detained all 14 people and registered two FIRs against them at Connaught Place and Parliament Street police stations. The police said all 14 were subsequently bound down in the respective cases as per law. Das and Ranka were produced before the SEM at Mandir Marg Police Station at around 8.30 am on Wednesday. That didn’t even happen during the Emergency (imposed by Indira Gandhi in 1975),” he added.
The police argued before the magistrate that the two leaders had called on people to gather at Jantar Mantar, thereby committing criminal trespass, according to Hela. Police said personnel at the spot intervened and tried to stop the group, but the protesters allegedly obstructed them in the discharge of their official duties. The police also contended that they had violated a bond signed before a Special Executive Magistrate at Delhi Cantt Police Station on Sunday, in which they had undertaken not to breach the peace. CJP chief spokesperson Saurav Das and national spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka were detained by the Delhi Police on Tuesday morning after entering Jantar Mantar by jumping over its locked gates.
