Police say Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and Ajinkya Shinde are under preventive arrest; CJP alleges trespass charges and denial of legal access
New Delhi, October 14: A dispute has broken out over the legal status of three Cockroach Janta Party leaders held after they entered Jantar Mantar. The CJP says they have been arrested, while Delhi Police say they are under preventive arrest.
Co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, along with national organisation in-charge Ajinkya Shinde and other volunteers, scaled the locked gates of Jantar Mantar on Tuesday. This came a day after the site was stripped of its status as a designated protest venue. According to PTI, police filed an FIR on Tuesday evening accusing the three of entering the area without authorisation.
CJP legal affairs head Ratna Singh said on X that the leaders face charges including trespass, bond violation and obstructing public servants in their duty. She said they were likely to be produced before a special executive magistrate at Mandir Marg early on Wednesday, and warned they could be sent to Tihar Jail on judicial custody.
Singh also alleged that the three were not allowed to meet their lawyers until late at night and were moved to Parliament Street police station in a private van at 3 am. She posted a photograph of them from the station, saying their spirits remained high, and noted that the 24-hour limit on custody before production in court was nearing its end.
Das and Ranka had been detained on landing at Delhi airport on October 10, the day of the CJP’s planned protest.
representative image – curtsey The Hindu
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