The leaders of India's youth-led Cockroach Janta Party, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, were detained on Tuesday (Oct 13) for entering Jantar Mantar.
Saurav Das, chief spokesperson of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), speaks next to Ashutosh Ranka, co-convenner of CJP, during a press conference at the Press Club of India in New Delhi, India, on Oct 11, 2026. (Photo: Reuters/Bhawika Chhabra)
14 Oct 2026 01:05PM
NEW DELHI: Two top leaders of India's youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) were sent to jail for five days on Wednesday (Oct 14) for alleged trespassing, the party said.
Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das "have been sent to five days judicial custody", CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said in a social media post.
Das and Ranka were detained on Tuesday for entering Jantar Mantar, a day after Delhi Police announced that the Jantar Mantar street in the heart of the capital had been taken off the list of designated official protest sites.
A video posted online by Dipke on Tuesday showed the duo clambering over barricades at Jantar Mantar street, running into an empty space and waving the national flag - before police chased and detained them.
04:57 Min
Leaders of India's Cockroach Janta Party have been detained, after entering a heavily guarded protest site in New Delhi, defying a clampdown on security. The leaders are demanding - as they have repeatedly done - the resignation of the election chief over a controversial revision of voter rolls. Neha Poonia is covering this story for CNA from New Delhi.
Supporters of the online movement and opposition parties have taken to the streets in recent days, demanding the resignation of the head of India's election commission, accusing it of manipulating voter rolls to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party.
The Election Commission of India, which oversees the voting process in the world's most populous nation, has denied any wrongdoing.
The site has been sealed off for several days by yellow metal barricades and guarded by a heavy police presence.
Dipke on Wednesday defended Das and Ranka, saying they were being punished just for "unfurling tricolour at Jantar Mantar.
"Show some guts, @narendramodi," he said.
Source: AFP/lk