TRICOLOUR AT JANTAR MANTAR, FIVE DAYS IN JAIL: CJP LEADERS FACE FRESH CUSTODY AS DELHI’S PROTEST VENUE BATTLE ESCALATES
October 14, 2026
Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were sent to five days of judicial custody and lodged in Tihar Jail on Wednesday after being detained for allegedly entering Jantar Mantar without authorisation, in a fresh escalation of the confrontation over restrictions on demonstrations in the national capital. Their detention has triggered accusations from the party that the authorities are using preventive legal provisions to suppress peaceful dissent.
The two leaders, along with CJP associate Ajinkya Shinde, were produced before an Executive Magistrate on Wednesday morning, a day after police detained them for allegedly breaching barricades and entering the recently denotified protest site. The formalities for Shinde’s bail bond were being completed, according to police sources.
The case has brought renewed attention to the government’s decision to remove Jantar Mantar from the list of designated protest venues. Das and Ranka had signed bonds committing themselves to maintaining peace for one year after their detention during an earlier demonstration on Saturday. Police now allege that their subsequent entry into Jantar Mantar violated those conditions and other restrictions.
Delhi Police registered a case against the CJP activists on charges including trespassing, violation of prohibitory orders, breach of a peace bond and obstructing a public servant from discharging official duties. The allegations are subject to the legal process.
CJP accuses government of crushing dissent
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke sharply criticised the decision to send the two leaders to judicial custody, portraying their detention as an attempt to intimidate the organisation and prevent further demonstrations.
“Ashu and Saurav have been sent to five days’ judicial custody. Their fault? Unfurling the Tricolour at Jantar Mantar,” Dipke said in a post on social media. He challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare an Emergency openly rather than, as he alleged, relying on measures intended to silence dissent.
The party maintains that its leaders went to Jantar Mantar to wave the national flag and raise slogans, including “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”. Shinde said that the detention of Ranka on his birthday was particularly disturbing, describing it as punishment for exercising democratic rights.
He accused the government of misusing its authority to curtail fundamental freedoms and appealed to supporters to unite against what he described as an increasingly authoritarian administration. Shinde also warned that placing two leaders in custody for five days would not frighten the party into abandoning its campaign.
Lawyer disputes police account
Advocate Abhisht Hela, who represents Das, Ranka and Shinde, questioned the grounds for sending the two leaders to judicial custody and accused police of making false claims before the magistrate.
Hela said the police had relied on an assumption that the leaders might commit an offence, rather than demonstrating that they had breached their peace bonds. He also denied that the party had issued a call urging people to assemble at Jantar Mantar and alleged that a separate complaint concerning an incident in Connaught Place had been used against the activists.
These assertions conflict with the police account and remain allegations by the defence. The case will proceed through the applicable legal process.
Jantar Mantar dispute widens
The latest detentions follow a Delhi Police order issued on October 11 by Commissioner Anurag Kumar, designating Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground in East Delhi as venues for protests and demonstrations. The order removed Jantar Mantar from the list of authorised protest sites after a committee constituted by the Union Home Ministry examined alternative locations.
The CJP has strongly criticised the decision, arguing that moving demonstrations away from a prominent location near the centre of political power would reduce their visibility and weaken the effectiveness of public dissent. The party’s campaign has centred on demands for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
The authorities have maintained that demonstrations must take place at approved locations and comply with public-order requirements. The dispute has now expanded from the original electoral controversy to a broader disagreement over where citizens can protest and what restrictions may lawfully be imposed on political demonstrations.
Das and Ranka’s latest detention has intensified that confrontation. While the police have invoked alleged trespass and violations of peace bonds, the CJP argues that its leaders were penalised for displaying the national flag and expressing political opposition.
The legal proceedings will determine how the charges and alleged violations are treated. Meanwhile, the wider dispute over Jantar Mantar, electoral transparency and the right to peaceful assembly remains unresolved, with the CJP signalling that the latest detentions will not end its campaign.
