New Delhi: Delhi Police have arrested Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) activists Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and others for allegedly trespassing at Jantar Mantar.
According to Delhi Police sources, the CJP activists are under preventive arrest.
Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and Ajinkya Shinde were detained, and a case was registered by Delhi Police while attempting to enter Jantar Mantar, a day after authorities de-notified the site as a designated protest location.
CJP's Ratna Singh said that they will be produced before the court on Wednesday.
"Delhi Police arrests Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka, and Ajinkya Shinde at Parliament Street Police Station in today's Jantar Mantar case. Trespass, bond violation, obstruction of public official's duty, etc. They'll be produced before the SCM Court in the morning. A possibility of Judicial Custody (JC) in the Tihar Jail is possible. They were not allowed to meet their lawyers till late at night. They were brought to Parliament Street PS at 3 AM in a private van. Despite these illegal actions, their spirits are high," Ratna Singh posted on X.
"Update at 5:38 AM - Just been informed that Saurav, Ashutosh, and Ajinkya are likely to be produced before the SEM at Mandir Marg Police Station within one hour. FYI, 24 hours timeline will end soon," Singh wrote in another post.
Earlier, Ratna Singh accused Delhi Police of acting arbitrarily and following orders from higher authorities while dealing with the activists.
Singh alleged that the CJP activists had been denied access to lawyers for nearly 24 hours and were not initially informed of the grounds for their detention.
"We are currently witnessing the Delhi Police operating according to a specific 'rulebook', one dictated by orders from above. They set the law aside to follow this rulebook. We saw how people who went to Jantar Mantar, simply to hoist the Tiranga, were detained. It has been nearly 24 hours, yet they have not been allowed to meet any lawyers, nor have they been initially informed of the grounds for their detention or arrest," she said.
Singh further alleged that police personnel had denied access to lawyers and volunteers despite repeated attempts to meet the detained party members.
"They denied access not only to ordinary volunteers but also to lawyers who had been present since morning. The SHOs and other officers on site kept insisting they were acting under orders from above. Who, then, is issuing these orders to the Delhi Police, orders that override the law itself?" she asked.
Accusing the authorities of restricting peaceful protests, Singh alleged that designated protest sites were being de-notified and people visiting public spaces were being detained and held in custody for extended periods.
She also questioned the police response to other incidents in the national capital, alleging that while criminals were roaming freely, peaceful protesters were being stopped from demonstrating.
Singh said, "We see criminals roaming freely, wandering the city, assaulting people, yet peaceful protesters are being stopped. Designated protest sites are being 'de-notified,' and people visiting these public spaces are being detained without explanation and held in custody for extended periods."
"The Delhi Police is being used as a puppet, and they are dealing very harshly with peaceful protesters, which is not right," she said.
Calling the recent arrests illegal, Singh claimed that the alleged offences cited against the activists had not taken place and accused the authorities of using detention as a means to discourage protests.
Singh alleged, "Recent arrests are illegal; no information was provided, and none of the alleged offences cited in the charges actually took place."
"I believe this is merely a tactic to frame people, a way to intimidate them so they do not protest. But they are mistaken; they cannot stop protesters by invoking such sections or detaining them in this manner," she added.
This comes amid CJP and the Opposition's ongoing agitation against CEC Gyanesh Kumar over the alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise.