CJP leaders Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka sent to five-day judicial custody

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were sent to five-day judicial custody and lodged in Tihar Jail on Wednesday for allegedly violating their peace bonds and trespassing into Jantar Mantar, which has been denotified as a protest area, police said.

Their associate Ajinkya Shinde was bound down to maintain peace and good behaviour for six months and released on a personal bond and a surety of Rs 5,000, police said.

The three were produced before a Special Executive Magistrate on Wednesday morning.

The CJP leaders were detained early Tuesday after they allegedly breached barricades and entered the Jantar Mantar area without authorisation, raised slogans demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, and erected a national flag there.

They were booked on charges including trespassing, violation of prohibitory orders, breach of peace bond, and obstructing a public servant from discharging official duties, sources said.

Das and Ranka had signed bonds to maintain peace for a year after they were detained on Saturday, they said.

The action on CJP leaders comes amid heightened security in the national capital following a series of protests by the youth-led outfit and other organisations demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.

Reacting to the development, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke slammed the Central government for crushing dissent.

In an X post, he said, “Ashu and Saurav have been sent to five days’ judicial custody. Their fault? Unfurling the Tricolour at Jantar Mantar.”

He further said, “Show some guts, @narendramodi. If you’re so determined to crush dissent, have the courage to officially declare an Emergency instead of hiding behind these cowardly tactics.”

In a statement, Delhi Police said that on the morning of October 13, Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka, Ajinkya Shinde and 11 other CJP members entered Jantar Mantar, which has been denotified as a designated protest site, by trespassing through a private premise.

“Police personnel deployed at the spot intervened and attempted to stop them. However, the protesters allegedly obstructed police personnel in the discharge of their official duties. All 14 persons were detained, and an FIR at Connaught Place Police Station under Sections 223a, 332 and 61(2) on October 13 and another FIR under Sections 221, 115(2), 132, 121(1) and 3(5) at the Parliament Street Police Station were registered against them,” the police statement said.

In view of their alleged attempts to disturb public peace and violate the law, Das, Ranka, and Shinde were placed under preventive arrest, it said.

“Their alleged attempts to instigate others through social media to engage in similar unlawful activities were also taken into consideration. The three individuals were produced before the Special Executive Magistrate, where proceedings under Sections 126 and 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita were initiated,” it added.

The Special Executive Magistrate court, considering the kalandra (preventive police report) details, repeated violation of law by the activists, and serious apprehension that if released on bail they would again violate law and instigate others, remanded Das and Ranka to five days of judicial custody, police said.

Ajinkya Shinde was bound down to maintain peace and good behaviour for six months on a personal bond and surety of Rs 5,000, they said.