NEW DELHI: Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were sent to five-day judicial custody on October 14 in connection with an alleged trespass at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar protest site. Meanwhile, CJP national organisation in-charge Ajinkya Shinde was released on a personal bond, according to the party’s legal affairs head, Ratna Singh.
#BREAKING: Delhi Police arrests Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka, and Ajinkya Shinde at Parliament Street Police Station in today’s Jantar Mantar case.
Trespass, bond violation, obstruction of public official’s duty, etc.
They’ll be produced before the SCM Court in the morning. A…
— Ratna Singh (@whattalawyer) October 13, 2026
The development came hours after Singh said the three leaders were to be produced before a Special Executive Magistrate (SEM). Delhi Police had earlier stated that Das, Ranka and Shinde had been placed under preventive arrest after entering Jantar Mantar on Tuesday morning.
The detentions took place a day after authorities de-notified Jantar Mantar as a designated protest venue, amid an ongoing agitation by the CJP and Opposition parties against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
According to advocate Abhisht Hela, who represented the CJP leaders, Delhi Police argued before the executive magistrate that Das and Ranka had called upon people to gather at Jantar Mantar, thereby committing criminal trespass.
The police also cited a bond that the two leaders had signed before an executive magistrate at Delhi Cantt Police Station on Sunday, undertaking not to engage in activities that could disturb public peace. The police argued that the bond had been violated.
Hela said the police had contended that there was a presumption that the accused could commit an offence if released. However, the advocate disputed the police’s claims, maintaining that Das and Ranka had neither violated the bond nor issued a call asking people to gather at the protest site.
Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi hosted leaders of the INDIA bloc and civil society representatives at his residence on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing developments. Addressing the gathering, Gandhi said the Opposition would pursue a united protest with the stated objective of restoring democracy in India. He also criticised the decision to de-notify Jantar Mantar as a designated protest venue, arguing that the site had served as a platform for citizens to express their democratic concerns. Gandhi said the Opposition would challenge the decision.
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah criticised the Opposition and predicted another decisive victory for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2029 general elections.
Amit Shah urged Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders to prepare for another electoral defeat, asserting that the Congress would face defeat for the fourth consecutive time in the general elections.
Questioning the Congress’s electoral performance in several states, Shah referred to its prolonged absence from power in Tripura, West Bengal and Gujarat. He also challenged the Opposition’s criticism of the SIR exercise, pointing out that the exercise came into effect after the 2024 general elections. Amit Shah’s remarks came amid the Opposition’s concerns over the electoral revision process and its criticism of the Election Commission.
