COCKROACH Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained by police on Tuesday after they reached Jantar Mantar despite heavy barricading and a strong security presence, the CJP said. In a post on X, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said other team members, including Ajinkya Shinde, had also been detained. “Cockroaches with the Tiranga sneaked into Jantar Mantar early this morning before they were picked up by Delhi Police,” Dipke said. He said Ranka, Das and Shinde, along with other team members, have been detained. “You cannot denotify the resistance,” Dipke said, tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Dipke also shared a video showing CJP members jumping over a gate to enter Jantar Mantar and raising slogans like “Bharat Mata ki Jai”. Police personnel were seen rushing to grab them. CJP members said they had entered Jantar Mantar to assert their right to protest at the designated site and demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. “Jantar Mantar has been breached. The resignation of Gyanesh Kumar will happen at Jantar Mantar.

 

Do what you can,” Ranka said. Das questioned the Home Ministry’s restrictions on access to the protest site, saying, “Who is the Home Ministry to take away our Jantar Mantar? This is the designated protest site, and we will get the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar from Jantar Mantar.” Das also flashed a copy of the Constitution and said, “Constitution is with us.” The CJP members raised slogans of “Bharat Mata ki Jai”, “Inquilab Zindabad” and “Jai Bhim”. They also recited the revolutionary poem “Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna” and raised slogans against the authorities. In a statement, the CJP described its action as reclaiming Jantar Mantar, saying that its members had entered the heavily barricaded protest site and hoisted the Tricolour there. “Fortress Jantar Mantar has been reclaimed,” said the statement.

 

The detentions come amid heightened security in New Delhi following protest calls given by different organisations against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Delhi Police has deployed a large number of personnel across the city to maintain law and order. Delhi Police file FIR against Dipke, Ranka, Das after Jantar Mantar breach:DELHI Police has filed an FIR against Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and its other members for allegedly trespassing into the Jantar Mantar area without authorisation, officials said on Tuesday. A police source said FIR sections include breach of a peace bond the three leaders signed earlier. The action came hours after the activists entered the heavily barricaded protest site and raised slogans demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. Jantar Mantar was recently denotified as a designated protest site. Das, Ranka and a few other CJP members were detained early Tuesday after they allegedly entered the area in defiance of prohibitory orders. According to the outfit, around 11 of its members were detained.

 

A police officer said the detained protesters were taken to Jaffarpur Kalan Police Station in Dwarka district. Security was stepped up in and around the police station after some CJP workers gathered there. Dipke, the CJP founder, described the outfit’s action as a reclaiming of Jantar Mantar and asserted that the denotification of the protest site would not deter it from continuing its agitation. Dipke, Das and Ranka were detained on Saturday also following their arrival in Delhi amid a major security clampdown that thwarted the outfit’s protest demanding Kumar’s resignation. They were released a day later on the condition that they would not breach peace for a year. Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar issued a standing order on October 11 naming Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground as the new designated sites for protests and demonstrations. The CJP said the denotification announcement came on October 12, the same day its representatives approached Parliament Street Police Station to seek a date and time for a peaceful demonstration at Jantar Mantar. The outfit has criticised the move, arguing that shifting demonstrations away from the political centre of the national capital would weaken the visibility of public dissent. The latest detentions come amid heightened security in New Delhi following protest calls by various organisations against Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.