CJP Leaders Das and Ranka Sent to Five-Day Judicial Custody After Jantar Mantar Entry

A Delhi magistrate sent Cockroach Janta Party co-conveners Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka to five days of judicial custody on 14 October 2026. The two had been detained the previous day after climbing a locked gate and crossing barricades to enter Jantar Mantar, a site recently removed from the list of authorised protest venues.

Police charged them with trespassing, violating a peace bond, breaching prohibitory orders and obstructing officials. A third activist, Ajinkya Shinde, was released on a personal bond. Das and Ranka denied the charges. They appeared before the Special Executive Magistrate Court, which ordered the remand to allow further investigation. Both can seek bail from a higher court.

The party has been holding demonstrations demanding electoral reforms and the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner over the Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls. The Election Commission has rejected allegations of large-scale deletions or fraud. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke described the entry into Jantar Mantar as reclaiming a protest space. Videos circulated by the party showed the leaders chanting slogans while holding the national flag.

Opposition leaders responded. Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi stated that the CJP leaders were fighting for the same cause. Other parties condemned the arrests. Dipke announced a fresh protest for 16 October at Central Park in Connaught Place under the call "Lehra do Tiranga."

Jantar Mantar has long served as a designated protest site in the capital. Its denotification restricts public assembly there. The CJP action tested that restriction and produced the first sustained judicial custody for its senior leaders in the current campaign. The five-day remand places the two men in jail while police complete inquiries into the trespass and related allegations.

The episode occurs against the backdrop of ongoing disputes over voter-list revision ahead of state and national elections. Whether the custody order dampens or amplifies the party's mobilisation will become clearer after the planned 16 October gathering and any bail applications. For now, two of the movement's most visible organisers are in judicial custody on the stated charges.