E-Paper
CJP lawyer says Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka held after Jantar Mantar entry; Delhi Police call it preventive arrest
The CJP earlier claimed Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and Ajinkya Shinde were arrested for the alleged breach.
Prefer HTon Google
The Delhi Police on Wednesday said Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and Ajinkya Shinde have been placed under preventive arrest for allegedly entering the Jantar Mantar area without authorisation.
This came after the CJP claimed the three leaders were arrested for allegedly breaching barricades and entering Jantar Mantar, which was denotified as a protest venue on Monday. Das and Ranka were later sent to judicial custody for five days by a special executive magistrate (SEM) at Mandir Marg Police Station.
The CJP has been protesting against the Election Commission and seeking the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Deep Dive
On Tuesday evening, the police said a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against 14 people, including Das, Ranka and Shinde, for the alleged breach at Jantar Mantar.
CJP legal affairs head Ratna Singh earlier alleged there was a possibility of “judicial custody in Tihar Jail” for the three leaders. “They were not allowed to meet their lawyers till late at night. They were brought to Parliament Street PS at 3am in a private van,” she said.
She also posted a photograph of Das, Ranka and Shinde from Parliament Street Police Station. “Despite these illegal actions, their spirits are high,” she said.
In a separate post, Singh said, “FYI, 24 hours timeline will end soon". On Monday, the CJP gave the Delhi Police 24 hours to provide a date for holding a protest, warning that the party would announce its next course of action if no response came within the deadline.
To be sure, the Jantar Mantar area has been cordoned off with police barricades since the last week of September, ahead of a planned CJP protest on October 10. Heavy security still remains deployed in the area and the entirety of central Delhi.
Why were the CJP leaders detained?
Fourteen CJP members, including Das and Ranka, were detained on Tuesday after they scaled an iron gate of an office premises to enter the Jantar Mantar area.
A senior police officer said a case of trespassing was registered at Parliament Street police station, without giving further details.
In videos taken by the group at the site and uploaded to social media, Ranka can be seen waving the national flag as the group raises slogans of “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”, “Inquilab Zindabad” and “Gyanesh Kumar Isteefa Do”. Within seconds, police officers begin detaining them. Das later shared a video from inside a bus, saying, “We have breached Jantar Mantar. We were at Jantar Mantar and now we are being detained.”
