BJD president Naveen Patnaik pats CJP duo, Abhijeet Dipke thanks him 

BJD president and former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday evening demanded the immediate release of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) activists Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, questioning their prolonged detention for hoisting the Indian flag , even if it happened to be in a prohibited area.

Naveen wrote this on social media hours before the duo were released on Wednesday from judicial custody on the order of a special executive magistrate in Delhi.

“Jai Hind. The judicial custody of Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das must be urgently reviewed and they must be released immediately. Hoisting the National Flag, even in a prohibited area, should not warrant such prolonged detention,” he wrote. The judiciary and the executive "must rise to the occasion", he added, to ensure the youth did not lose faith in the rule of law and constitutional rights.

The CJP duo were in judicial custody since October 13 for allegedly breaching a security cordon and entering the denotified protest site Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, with the Indian flag.

CJP chief Abhijeet Dipke responded: “Thank you Sir for standing with Saurav and Ashu.”

The BJP responded sharply to Naveen.

Odisha state BJP president and Rajya Sabha member Manmohan Samal, without taking names, said: “He says one thing today, another tomorrow, and something entirely different later. He used to speak about maintaining equal distance, but later joined the INDIA bloc in Delhi and opposed its call in Odisha.”

“The people of the state will never tolerate any support extended towards unconstitutional or anti-national forces," Samal added.

The state BJP hit out at Naveen on social media: “Your support for anarchists and foreign-funded anti-India forces... is not surprising given your history of settling thousands of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants into the state.... You not only allowed them to become voters, and now you are also opposing the SIR process.... The sovereignty of our nation is far more important than temporary political PR....”

Reacting to it, the BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty wrote on social media: “Democracy is not a crime, dissent is not disloyalty, and questioning those in power is not anarchy. When voices are silenced, history remembers those who stood up and those who chose to remain silent.”