Jantar Mantar protest case: CJP leaders Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka appear before Crime Branch

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) co-conveners Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka on Thursday reached the Delhi Police Crime Branch office in Rajouri Garden after being summoned for questioning in connection with cases linked to protests at the denotified Jantar Mantar site in October, officials said.

The two leaders had earlier been arrested and sent to judicial custody after entering the denotified protest site at Jantar Mantar and waving the national flag on October 13, which police said also violated a peace bond signed by them on October 11.

They were released from Tihar jail on October 21 after furnishing personal and surety bonds of ₹50,000 each. The cases against the CJP leaders were later transferred to the Crime Branch, which had earlier summoned Das and Ranka for questioning before the end of October, but they sought more time.

The cases stem from an October 14 incident in which Das, Ranka and CJP leader Ajinkya Shinde, along with 11 others, allegedly trespassed into Jantar Mantar, which had been de-notified as the designated protest site. The group was protesting against alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and raised slogans against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.

All of them were detained by Delhi Police. While Shinde was released on bail after being asked to sign a peace bond, Das and Ranka remained in judicial custody for about a week.

Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) Ritu Raj directed the release of the two activists after they furnished personal bonds and surety bonds of ₹50,000 each until the conclusion of the inquiry in connection with the Jantar Mantar trespassing case.

In their written undertakings, Das and Ranka promised not to commit any breach of peace and expressed full faith in the judiciary and all its instruments, including the SEM court, police said.