CJP threatens legal action if Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka are not released today

New Delhi: The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) has warned that it will initiate legal action if its co-conveners Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, arrested during a protest at Jantar Mantar, are not released on Sunday. The warning comes as their five-day judicial custody is set to end. The party has held discussions with senior advocate Kapil Sibal to pursue legal options.

The CJP alleged that the authorities were deliberately attempting to keep Das and Ranka behind bars.

Abhijit Deepke, who was detained ahead of the Tiranga March, was granted conditional bail on Saturday. The party's move to pursue legal action for the release of the other two leaders came shortly afterwards. One of the key bail conditions imposed on Deepke was that he must ensure there was no breach of law and order on his part for one year.

National Students' Union of India (NSUI) president Neha Bora, who was detained on Friday, was released on Saturday morning after being held in custody overnight.

Protests have erupted across the country following reports that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had taken unilateral decisions on matters concerning the Election Commission, disregarding the dissenting views of the other two commissioners. The protesters are demanding Kumar's resignation and a halt to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.

Following his release on Friday, Deepke shared a photograph of Das and Ranka on social media, writing, “Waiting for my brothers to be free.”

The CJP co-conveners were arrested on Tuesday after they jumped over the gate at Jantar Mantar and displayed the national flag. The site had reportedly been stripped of its designated protest venue status.

Although CJP national organisational in-charge Ajinkya Shinde and 11 others were released, preventive action was taken against Das and Ranka, who were remanded to five days of judicial custody.

CJP head of legal affairs Ratna Singh alleged on X that Das and Ranka could not secure their release because the investigating officer arrived at 6 pm for a hearing scheduled for 2 pm.