On Monday, Delhi police extended the judicial custody of Cockroach Janta Party co‑convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka by two days after they were detained for a protest at Jantar Mantar.
The leaders had been taken into custody on 13 October after allegedly climbing over a locked gate to enter the former protest zone, which had been denotified. They were initially held for five days.
During the protest, Das and Ranka, along with other party workers, displayed the national flag and shouted slogans against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar before being detained and placed under preventive arrest.
The extension follows a hearing before a newly appointed Special Executive Magistrate at Mandir Marg police station. The magistrate had earlier claimed that unknown persons threatened him, prompting a non‑cognisable report.
The Cockroach Janta Party has accused the state of deliberately delaying the bail process and rejecting bail sureties on vague grounds. Founder Abhijit Dipke posted on X that the leaders are being kept in jail through “dirty tricks”.
The leaders will be produced before the court again on Wednesday, 21 October, after the two‑day extension. Police remain on duty outside the station amid the ongoing bail hearing.
The incident has drawn attention to the broader debate over protest rights and judicial detention in Delhi.
