New Delhi, Oct. 14 -- Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were sent to five days of judicial custody on Wednesday after being detained over their entry into Jantar Mantar, as party founder Abhijeet Dipke announced a gathering with the national flag at Central Park in Connaught Place on Friday, October 16, at 5 pm.
The announcement comes amid a dispute over restrictions on protests in the national capital and the detention of CJP members demonstrating against alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Dipke has called on supporters to join the proposed gathering in Delhi and urged those unable to reach the capital to organise Tiranga marches in their own cities.
A Special Executive Magistrate remanded Das and Ranka to five days of judicial custody, following which they were sent to Tihar Jail. Ajinkya Shinde, the party's national organisation in-charge, who was detained alongside them, was released on a personal bond of Rs 5,000. He was directed to maintain peace and good behaviour for six months, according to Ratna Singh, the party's head of legal affairs.
The three were detained after a group of CJP members allegedly crossed security barricades and entered Jantar Mantar on Tuesday, October 13. The location had been denotified as an authorised protest site a day earlier.
During the demonstration, participants raised slogans against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and demanded his resignation over alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise.
Announcing the plan on X, Dipke said the gathering would underline the party's position that displaying the national flag should not be treated as a crime. He also expressed apprehension that he could face arrest following the announcement.
"We will show that waving a tiranga is not a crime," Dipke said, calling on supporters to participate in the proposed programme.
The party has maintained that its members were attempting to exercise their right to peaceful protest and raise concerns over the electoral revision process. However, permission for the proposed gathering at Central Park had not been confirmed as of Wednesday evening.
Police told the magistrate that Das and Ranka had called on people to assemble at Jantar Mantar, which they described as criminal trespass. The police also alleged that the two leaders had violated earlier undertakings to maintain peace.
Their counsel, Abhisht Hela, contested the allegations, arguing that the leaders had neither issued a call for the gathering nor breached their peace bonds.
The arrests also drew criticism from Opposition leaders, including Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who described the detention of the two CJP leaders as an "act of cowardice".
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said jailing young people for waving the tricolour was an act of cowardice. He said opposition parties, despite operating under different banners, were fighting for the same cause and demanded that Jantar Mantar be reclaimed as a public protest site.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee condemned the arrests and called for unity to protect democracy. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal questioned whether waving the national flag could be considered a crime, while Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray said the fight to reclaim democracy would continue.
CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML) Liberation, RJD, DMK and NCP (SP) also criticised the arrests and demanded the restoration of protest rights. BRS leader K. T. Rama Rao described the five-day judicial custody as a new level of Emergency.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.