India
oi-Madhuri Adnal
Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka have been sent to five days of judicial custody and will be lodged in Tihar Jail, hours after their preventive arrest on Wednesday (October 14, 2026).
The Delhi Police have registered an FIR against the two, citing charges including breach of bond, criminal trespass and disobedience of orders. Ajinkya Shinde, another party member who was detained, was released on a personal bond.
CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were placed in five days’ judicial custody in Tihar Jail on Oct 14, 2026, following their arrest for attempting to enter the denotified Jantar Mantar protest site, with an FIR filed for charges including breach of bond.
The arrests followed an attempt by the CJP members to enter Jantar Mantar on Tuesday. The Delhi Police detained Das, Ranka, Shinde and 11 other party members after they allegedly tried to enter the area, which had been denotified as an authorised protest site on Monday (October 12).
Das and Ranka had been detained earlier as well. On October 10, the Delhi Police detained them along with CJP member Abhijeet Dipke at Indira Gandhi International Airport ahead of the party’s planned protest at Jantar Mantar.
They were subsequently released after submitting surety bonds of ₹50,000 each and giving an undertaking to maintain peace and good behaviour for one year.
A peace bond is a legal undertaking to maintain peace and good behaviour for a specified period. If the conditions are allegedly violated, the police can bring the matter before a Magistrate for further action under the law.
The latest detentions came after Dipke posted a video on X on Tuesday morning showing party members jumping over barricades near Jantar Mantar. The members were seen carrying the national flag and raising slogans of “Bharat Mata ki Jai”.
A senior Delhi Police officer said the protesters had entered the area through nearby eateries and food stalls that are open to the public.
The arrests come at a time when security has been tightened across Central Delhi following a series of demonstrations by the CJP and other organisations. The protests are against alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The police are continuing their investigation into the case.
