The custody of Cockroach Janta Party leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das has been extended despite their legal team's plea for release. With sureties now filed on record, the case is set for another hearing on October 21.
The CJP legal team had filed an application seeking the release of Das and Ranka from judicial custody before the Special Executive Magistrate.
New Delhi,Oct 19, 2026 19:35 IST
Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were on Monday sent to judicial custody for two more days after being produced before a newly appointed Special Executive Magistrate at Delhi's Mandir Marg police station, an official said.
The development came amid allegations by the CJP that bail proceedings were being deliberately delayed to prevent the release of the party's two co-convenors. The leaders were initially remanded to five days of judicial custody after their detention over a protest at Jantar Mantar.
They will now be produced before the magistrate on Wednesday, sources said.
The CJP legal team had sought their release after filing bail sureties on record. The leaders had earlier been sent to judicial custody because their sureties were unavailable on the day of their detention.
On Monday, police sought an extension of their judicial custody, and the magistrate remanded them to jail for two more days, sources said.
WHY WERE CJP LEADERS DETAINED?
Das and Ranka were detained on October 13 after allegedly climbing over a locked gate to enter Jantar Mantar, which had earlier been denotified as a designated protest site.
Along with other CJP workers, they displayed the national flag and raised slogans against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar before being detained and placed under preventive arrest.
They were subsequently produced before a Special Executive Magistrate, who remanded them to judicial custody.
The CJP has been protesting against Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging that the exercise threatens voters' rights. The party has also opposed the denotification of Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site.
CJP ALLEGES DELIBERATE DELAYS IN BAIL PROCEEDINGS
The latest remand comes amid allegations by the party that the proceedings in the case were being prolonged to keep its leaders behind bars.
In a post on X, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke alleged that the state was deliberately delaying the release of the two co-convenors.
"The state is deliberately prolonging Ashu and Saurav's illegal arrest by using every dirty trick in the book to delay court proceedings and prevent their release," Dipke wrote.
"They have no legal grounds to keep them behind bars, so they are resorting to delaying tactics to keep them there," he added.
The party also alleged that bail sureties submitted for the release of its leaders had been rejected on "vague" grounds.
These allegations were made by the CJP and have not been independently established.
MAGISTRATE CLAIMS THREATS, POLICE REGISTER REPORT
The case also saw a development on Sunday, when the Special Executive Magistrate hearing the bail matter claimed that unknown persons were threatening him.
Following the complaint, police registered a non-cognisable report, according to the information available.
The magistrate hearing the bail matter was subsequently replaced, with the leaders produced before a newly appointed Special Executive Magistrate on Monday.
The latest order extends the custody of Das and Ranka by two days. They are scheduled to be produced again on Wednesday.
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