Jantar Mantar protests: CJP leaders Das and Ranka sent to 5 days' judicial custody
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Latest updates
- : A Delhi court sent Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka to 5 days' judicial custody after they allegedly entered Jantar Mantar; Ajinkya Shinde was freed on a personal bond
- : CJP leaders Dipke, Das and Ranka released on a ₹50,000 surety bond to keep the peace for a year; Rathee and Delhi Police accounts compared
Three days after walking free on a bond to keep the peace for a year, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka are headed to Tihar. Police say they breached it by climbing into the denotified Jantar Mantar; a third activist was released.
Original report
A Delhi court on 14 October 2026 sent Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka to 5 days' judicial custody, Bar & Bench and LiveLaw reported (Bar & Bench, 2026a; LiveLaw, 2026). Three days earlier, the same two leaders had walked free on a ₹50,000 surety bond and a promise to keep the peace for a year (Free Press Journal, 2026a).
Police say that promise was broken within two days, The Sunday Guardian reported. Das and Ranka go to Tihar Jail, while a third activist, Ajinkya Shinde, was freed on a personal bond (Sunday Guardian, 2026). See how every outlet covered it
Why the CJP leaders are in judicial custody
The three were detained on 13 October after allegedly climbing the gates of the barricaded Jantar Mantar, a day after Delhi Police denotified it as a protest site (LiveLaw, 2026; Bar & Bench, 2026a).
- The FIR: unlawful assembly and disobeying a public servant's order. LiveLaw reported that the group scaled the locked gates holding the Indian flag (LiveLaw, 2026).
- The charges reported: trespass, violating a prohibitory order and breaching the one-year peace bond from the 11 October release (Sunday Guardian, 2026).
These are police allegations; no court has ruled on them. The CJP disputes that they justify jail.
The CJP says the flag is not a crime
"Is waving the national flag reason enough to jail party leaders?" CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke asked, The Sunday Guardian reported (Sunday Guardian, 2026). Before the order, the party's legal affairs head, Ratna Singh, had warned on X that judicial custody in Tihar was possible, LiveLaw reported (LiveLaw, 2026).
The speed of the turnaround is the story: from release to remand took three days.
From release to remand in three days
- 10 October: Dipke, Das and Ranka were detained from an Air India flight at Delhi airport and held for about 24 hours in preventive custody (Free Press Journal, 2026a).
- 11 October: they were released under Sections 126 and 170 of the BNSS on a ₹50,000 surety and a 12-month peace undertaking (Free Press Journal, 2026a). An executive magistrate ordered the release, Bar & Bench reported (Bar & Bench, 2026b).
- 13 October: Das, Ranka and Shinde were detained inside Jantar Mantar (LiveLaw, 2026).
- 14 October: Das and Ranka were remanded for 5 days; Shinde was released (Sunday Guardian, 2026).
Outlets did not all tell the 14 October order the same way.
How the coverage split
- Bar & Bench's headline names all three, Das, Ranka and Shinde, as sent to custody for 5 days (Bar & Bench, 2026a).
- LiveLaw's headline names only Das and Ranka, and puts "trespassing" in quotation marks (LiveLaw, 2026).
- The Sunday Guardian led on the jailing and on Shinde's release (Sunday Guardian, 2026).
The earlier accounts of the 10 October crackdown still do not line up. YouTuber Dhruv Rathee said he was held for about 22 to 23 hours without his phone or a lawyer (Free Press Journal, 2026b). Delhi Police and the CJP dispute how Dipke learned of his grandmother's death (The Hindu, 2026). Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas alleges police pushed him off a bus (The New Indian Express, 2026). NDTV's headline put the 10 October detentions in Delhi at about 1,500 (NDTV, 2026).
What we know
- Das and Ranka are in 5 days' judicial custody from 14 October (Bar & Bench, 2026a; LiveLaw, 2026).
- Shinde was freed on a personal bond (Sunday Guardian, 2026).
- The reported charges include breaching the peace bond signed on 11 October (Sunday Guardian, 2026).
What we don't know yet
- Whether Das and Ranka will seek bail, and when any hearing is.
- Any response from opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi: we found none in the reports we opened.
- Details of a further CJP protest call for 16 October: no report we opened confirms one.
- How Delhi Police answer the accounts of Rathee and Brittas.
Questions people are asking
Why were Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka sent to judicial custody?
For allegedly climbing into the denotified Jantar Mantar on 13 October and breaching their peace bond, LiveLaw and The Sunday Guardian reported (LiveLaw, 2026; Sunday Guardian, 2026).
How long will the CJP leaders stay in judicial custody?
5 days from 14 October. By our count that runs to about 19 October; no outlet gave an end date.
Was Ajinkya Shinde sent to jail?
No. The Sunday Guardian reported that he was released on a personal bond (Sunday Guardian, 2026).
What are the CJP leaders charged with?
An FIR covers unlawful assembly and disobeying a public servant's order, LiveLaw reported; trespass, a prohibitory-order breach and a bond breach are also reported (LiveLaw, 2026; Sunday Guardian, 2026).
What happens next
The 5-day custody ends around 19 October, by our count from 14 October. No outlet we read has reported a bail application or a hearing date.
- Jantar Mantar denotified as protest site after 33 years; Ramlila costs Rs 1.21 lakh a day
- Chalo Dilli: about a dozen journalists detained, several say they showed press cards
References
- Bar & Bench (2026a) Delhi court sends CJP's Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka, Ajinkya Shinde to judicial custody for 5 days. Bar & Bench. Available at: Delhi court sends CJP's Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka, Ajinkya Shinde to judicial custody for 5 days (Accessed: 14 October 2026).
- Bar & Bench (2026b) CJP Protests: Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka released from detention by executive magistrate. Bar & Bench. Available at: CJP Protests: released from detention by executive magistrate (Accessed: 14 October 2026).
- Free Press Journal (2026a) CJP leaders released on ₹50,000 surety bond, must maintain peace for a year. Free Press Journal. Available at: CJP leaders released on ₹50,000 surety bond (Accessed: 11 October 2026).
- Free Press Journal (2026b) 'I am an Indian citizen': Dhruv Rathee shows passport in first video message after release. Free Press Journal. Available at: Dhruv Rathee shows passport in first video message after release (Accessed: 11 October 2026).
- LiveLaw (2026) Delhi Court Remands CJP Leaders Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka To Five Days Judicial Custody For 'Trespassing' At Jantar Mantar. LiveLaw. Available at: Delhi Court Remands CJP Leaders To Five Days Judicial Custody (Accessed: 14 October 2026).
- NDTV (2026) 4 ex-chief ministers among 1,500 detained in Delhi in police crackdown on CJP protest. NDTV. Available at: 4 ex-chief ministers among 1,500 detained in Delhi (Accessed: 11 October 2026).
- Sunday Guardian (2026) CJP Protest Latest News: Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka Sent to 5-Day Judicial Custody; Ajinkya Shinde Released. Sunday Guardian. Available at: Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka Sent to 5-Day Judicial Custody (Accessed: 14 October 2026).
- The Hindu (2026) Delhi Police releases video of informing Dipke about his grandmother's death, refutes CJP's allegation. The Hindu. Available at: Delhi Police releases video of informing Dipke (Accessed: 11 October 2026).
- The New Indian Express (2026) MP John Brittas allegedly pinned down, pushed off bus by police, admitted to RML Hospital. The New Indian Express. Available at: MP John Brittas allegedly pushed off bus by police (Accessed: 11 October 2026).
How we did this
On 14 October we read the custody reports from Bar & Bench, LiveLaw and The Sunday Guardian and set their accounts of who was sent to custody, and why, side by side. We built the 10 to 14 October timeline from those reports and from the Free Press Journal's report on the 11 October bond. Bar & Bench's report on the executive magistrate's release was seen as a search result only. For The Hindu, The New Indian Express and NDTV we compared headlines only, as in our earlier version. The 19 October end date is our own count from 14 October, not a reported date.
This story was produced, reviewed, edited and verified by the reporter before publication, with AI assistance where required.
Covered by 9 outlets across the spectrum: 33% left, 56% center, 11% right.
Who is covering this story
- Left-leaning (3): The Hindu, NDTV, The New Indian Express
- Center (3): Free Press Journal, Bar & Bench, Livelaw
- Right-leaning (1): Sunday Guardian
Sources
- Delhi Police releases video of informing Dipke about his grandmother's death, refutes CJP's allegation — The Hindu (left-leaning) ·
- CJP Leaders Released On ₹50,000 Surety Bond; Must Maintain Peace For A Year — Free Press Journal (center) ·
- 'I Am An Indian Citizen': Dhruv Rathee Shows Passport In First Video Message After Release, Calls Detention 'Kidnapping' — Free Press Journal (center) ·
- Article from NDTV — NDTV (left-leaning) ·
- MP John Brittas allegedly pinned down, pushed off bus by Delhi police; writes to Prez, CJI seeking independent probe — The New Indian Express (left-leaning) ·
- CJP Protests: Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka released from detention by executive magistrate — Bar & Bench (center) ·
- Delhi court sends CJP's Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka to judicial custody for 5 days — Bar & Bench (center) ·
- Delhi Court Remands CJP Leaders Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka To Five Days Judicial Custody For — Livelaw (center) ·
- CJP Protest Latest News: Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka Sent to 5-Day Judicial Custody; Ajinkya Shinde Released — Sunday Guardian (right-leaning) ·