Delhi Court Remands Cockroach Janta Party Leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka to Five Days Judicial Custody

A Delhi special executive magistrate remanded Cockroach Janta Party leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka to five days of judicial custody on Wednesday after police said they entered the denotified Jantar Mantar protest site in violation of earlier peace bonds.

Special Executive Magistrate Mahesh Kumar Meena noted that both men had executed bonds to maintain peace and good behaviour for one year after a prior detention. He said their subsequent social media calls for protests and their entry into Jantar Mantar on 13 October showed they had breached those directions. The magistrate issued notices under Section 130 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and ordered the five-day remand. Both were lodged in Tihar Jail.

A third CJP figure, Ajinkya Shinde, was bound down to maintain peace for six months and released on a personal bond and surety of 5,000 rupees. Delhi Police registered two FIRs against 14 CJP members. Charges include trespass, violation of prohibitory orders, breach of a peace bond, and obstruction of a public servant.

Police said the group entered Jantar Mantar on the morning of 13 October through a private premises after climbing a locked iron gate behind the Janata Dal (United) office. They unfurled the Indian flag and raised slogans before being detained. Jantar Mantar was recently denotified as a designated protest venue. Authorities have directed demonstrations to other sites farther from central government buildings.

CJP legal head Ratna Singh said the three leaders were taken to Parliament Street police station in the early hours and were not allowed to meet lawyers until late at night. The party has framed the action as part of a wider response to protests against the Election Commission and the special intensive revision of electoral rolls. Abhijeet Dipke, the CJP founder, has called for further gatherings.

The magistrate’s order cited the risk that Das and Ranka would again violate the law and instigate others if released. The concrete record on Wednesday is the five-day judicial custody for the two leaders, the release of Shinde on bond, the two FIRs, and the magistrate’s reference to the prior peace bonds and the Tuesday entry into the denotified site.