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 Mandir Marg police station, an official said.
The extension came amid allegations by the CJP that the bail proceedings were being deliberately delayed to prevent the release of its two co-convenors, who were initially remanded to five days of judicial custody on October 13 following a protest at Jantar Mantar.
According to sources, Delhi Police sought an extension of their custody during Monday's proceedings, following which the magistrate ordered that the two leaders remain in jail for another two days. They will now be produced on Wednesday.
๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐๐
Das and Ranka were taken into custody after allegedly climbing over a locked gate to enter Jantar Mantar, which had earlier been denotified as a designated protest site.
The two leaders, along with other CJP workers, 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 ordered their judicial custody.
The latest extension means the two co-convenors will remain in detention pending further proceedings scheduled for Wednesday.
๐ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ถ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐
The case took another turn on Sunday when the Special Executive Magistrate hearing their bail matter claimed that unidentified persons had threatened him.
Following the allegation, police registered a non-cognisable report.
On Monday, the two CJP leaders were produced before a newly appointed Special Executive Magistrate at Mandir Marg police station, where the police sought an extension of their custody.
๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke accused the authorities of deliberately prolonging the detention of Das and Ranka despite what he claimed was a lack of legal grounds to keep them in custody.
"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 alleged in a post on X.
"They have no legal grounds to keep them behind bars, so they are resorting to delaying tactics to keep them there," he added.
The CJP also alleged that bail sureties submitted for the release of its leaders had been rejected on "vague" grounds.
The allegations have not been independently established, and no response from the authorities to the claims was immediately available.
The two leaders will be produced before the magistrate again on Wednesday, when further proceedings concerning their custody and release are expected to take place.