NEW DELHI: Delhi Police have arrested Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) activists Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka, Ajinkya Shinde and others for allegedly trespassing at the Jantar Mantar protest site in New Delhi.According to police sources, the activists have been taken into preventive custody, as cited by ANI.The group’s legal team head Ratna Singh said the activists would be produced before a 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,” Singh said in a post 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,” she said in another post.Earlier, Ratna Singh accused Delhi Police of acting arbitrarily and following orders from senior officials in its handling of the CJP activists. She also said that the they were 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 lawyers and volunteers access to the detained party members despite repeated attempts to meet them.“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.She also criticised the police for their handling of law and order in the national capital, alleging that peaceful protesters were being stopped from holding demonstrations while criminals continued to roam freely.“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,” Singh said.“The Delhi Police is being used as a puppet, and they are dealing very harshly with peaceful protesters, which is not right,” she added.The development comes amid an ongoing agitation by the CJP and Opposition parties against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.CJP leaders Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and Ajinkya Shinde were detained on Tuesday by Delhi Police while attempting to enter Jantar Mantar, and a case was registered against them. The action came a day after authorities de-notified the site as a designated protest venue.
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Following the de-notification of Jantar Mantar, authorities designated Ramlila Ground, Burari Ground and CBD Ground in east Delhi as alternative venues for protests and demonstrations.The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had constituted a committee to examine alternative locations where citizens could exercise their right to organise protests. Based on the committee’s recommendations, Jantar Mantar was de-notified as a designated protest venue, according to the notice.
