New Delhi: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and Ajinkya Shinde were placed under preventive arrest early Tuesday in connection with a protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, where they allegedly breached barricades and raised slogans demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Jantar Mantar was recently denotified as a designated venue for protests.
Police have registered a case against the three leaders on charges of alleged trespassing, violating prohibitory orders, breaching a peace bond and obstructing a public servant.
The leaders are expected to be produced before the Special Court of the Executive Magistrate (SEM) on Wednesday morning.
CJP Alleges Illegal Detention
Ratna Singh, head of the CJP’s legal team, said the leaders were brought to Parliament Street Police Station in a private van at 3 a.m. and denied access to their lawyers.
Singh alleged that the grounds for their detention were not communicated to them and termed the arrests illegal. She claimed the charges were intended to intimidate protesters and said the leaders could be sent to judicial custody at Tihar Jail.
#WATCH | Delhi: Ratna Singh, Head of Legal Affairs, CJP, says, "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. While the grounds for arrest were eventually disclosed, the issue remains that the Delhi Police is acting arbitrarily in the current climate. 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?… Meanwhile, 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. This clearly demonstrates the prevailing atmosphere in Delhi, where arbitrary actions are the norm, and the government is acting at its own whim. The Delhi Police is being used as a puppet, and they are dealing very harshly with peaceful protesters, which is not right. Furthermore, the recent arrests are illegal; no information was provided, and none of the alleged offenses 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."
— ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2026
FIR Filed; Lawyers Await Copy
According to the leaders’ lawyers, an FIR has been registered against the three at Connaught Place police station. However, they said they had not yet received a copy of the FIR.
VIDEO | Delhi: FIR filed against CJP members Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and Ajinkya Shinde in Connaught Place police station, haven’t received its copy till now, say lawyers of CJP.
#CJP #JantarMantar #DelhiPolice
(Full video available on PTI Videos – https://t.co/d8jp61yd2p) https://t.co/h7Jfclz1w1
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 14, 2026
Earlier Peace Bond, Heightened Security
Das and Ranka had signed a one-year bond to maintain peace after being detained during a protest on Oct. 10.
The latest arrests come amid heightened security in Delhi following demonstrations by the CJP and other organisations over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
In a subsequent update, Singh said the leaders were expected to be produced before the SEM at Mandir Marg Police Station.
#BREAKING: 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.
@Cockroachisback
— Ratna Singh (@whattalawyer) October 13, 2026
