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 was denotified as a protest area, police sources said.
Bail bond formalities for their associate Ajinkya Shinde are being finalised, they said. The three were produced before the Executive Magistrate again on Wednesday morning.
Notably, the trio were detained early Tuesday after allegedly breaching barricades and entering the protest site, which was recently denotified as a designated venue for demonstrations, and raising slogans demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation.
Police have registered a case against them on charges including trespassing, violating prohibitory orders, breaching a peace bond and obstructing a public servant from discharging official duties, sources said.
Ranka and Das had signed a bond to maintain peace for a year after being detained on Saturday during an earlier protest in the national capital, officials said.
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."
"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," he posted.
The arrests come amid heightened security in the national capital following a series of protests by the CJP and other organisations over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
On October 11, Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar issued an order designating Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground as venues for protests and demonstrations. Jantar Mantar was subsequently denotified as a designated protest site.
The CJP has criticised the move, arguing that shifting demonstrations away from the political centre of the national capital would weaken the visibility of public dissent.
(With inputs from PTI)
