In this screengrab from a video posted on October 13, police detain CJP leader Saurav Das and other workers at Jantar Mantar, in New Delhi. (@abhijeet_dipke/X via PTI Photo)
LIVE: CJP's Saurav, Ashutosh sent to 5-day judicial custody in Jantar Mantar trespassing case
Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and a few other CJP members were detained early Tuesday after they allegedly entered the area in defiance of prohibitory orders.
Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke on Wednesday (October 14) alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was imposing an "unofficial emergency" after two CJP leaders were sent to five-day judicial custody for allegedly trespassing into Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.
Talking to reporters in Nagpur, Dipke sought to know what offence CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka committed by waving the tricolour at Jantar Mantar.
Das and Ranka were sent to five-day judicial custody and lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail on Wednesday for allegedly violating their peace bonds and trespassing into Jantar Mantar, which was denotified as a protest area.
They were detained early Tuesday after they allegedly breached barricades and entered the Jantar Mantar area without authorisation, raising slogans demanding Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar's resignation.
'Acting like cowards'
Reacting to the development, Dipke said, " I want to tell Narendra Modi that if you want to impose emergency in the country, then do it officially."
Also read: Rahul: Our mission is 'restoration of democracy in India'
"What is this, acting like cowards, imposing an unofficial emergency where you keep people in custody for five days just for waving the national flag at Jantar Mantar? That didn't even happen during the Emergency (imposed by Indira Gandhi in 1975)," he said.
"Waving the tricolour has become the worst sin in this country, such that people are sent to judicial custody for five days for it. So I want to say to Narendra Modi, don't be such a big coward; show some courage. If you want to impose emergency, then do it officially if you have guts," he added.
Dipke said he would visit Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur, where Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar embraced Buddhism along with thousands of his followers on October 14, 1956.
"Today I am going to pay my respects to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar right here, because our country runs on the Constitution and the ideas of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. No matter what efforts Narendra Modi or anyone else makes to impose the RSS ideology on this country, that will not happen," the CJP leader asserted.
This country will always follow the ideas of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, he added.
Follow live updates here.
Live Updates
- 14 Oct 2026 9:23 AM IST
CJP founder Dipke hits out at PM Modi
"If you’re so determined to crush dissent, have the courage to officially declare an Emergency instead of hiding behind these cowardly tactics," said CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke while hitting out at PM Modi over Saurav and Ashutosh being sent to five-day judicial custody.
- 14 Oct 2026 9:20 AM IST
Saurav and Ashutosh's advocate: 'Police lied in court'
Advocate Abhisht Hela, representing CJP's Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka, and Ajinkya Shinde, said, "They have been sent to 5-day judicial custody because of the presumption of the police that they can commit a crime...Police lied in court that they had given a call urging people to come there. They had not given any call. They have not violated the bond...The separate complaint over Connaught Place has been misused here, and they have been sent to 5-day judicial custody..."
- 14 Oct 2026 9:09 AM IST
CJP's Ajinkya: 'Saurav, Ashutosh entering jail with heads held high'
CJP leader Ajinkya Shinde, says, "You may know that Ashutosh, Saurav Das and I, along with volunteers from CJP, went to Jantar Mantar. We simply waved the Indian national flag and raised the slogan of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'. For this, the dictatorial Modi-Shah government has sent Saurav and Ashutosh to jail for five days. Today was Ashutosh’s birthday, and on his birthday, he has been sent to jail for raising the slogan of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and waving the Tricolour. I want to tell the people of the entire country that this government has begun using its system and misusing its powers to violate the fundamental rights of the people of this country. I appeal to everyone that we must come together to bring an end to this dictatorial government. I would also like to say that if the government thinks that sending our two leaders, Ashutosh and Saurav, to jail for five days will frighten them, it is absolutely mistaken. They have just said that they are entering the jail with their heads held high. They have told the people of the country that they will not be afraid."
- 14 Oct 2026 9:06 AM IST
Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka sent to 5 days' judicial custody in trespassing case
Executive Magistrate sends CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka to five days' judicial custody in Jantar Mantar trespassing case.
- 14 Oct 2026 7:40 AM IST
CJP's Das, Ranka, Shinde under preventive arrest for trespassing into Jantar Mantar: Officials
Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Ashutosh Ranka, Saurav Das and Ajinkya Shinde have been put under preventive arrest for allegedly entering the Jantar Mantar area without authorisation, officials said on Wednesday.
The three were detained early Tuesday after they allegedly breached barricades and entered the protest site, which was recently denotified as a designated venue for demonstrations, and raised slogans demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation.
- 14 Oct 2026 7:05 AM IST
Be prepared for 'crushing defeat' in 2029 polls: Amit Shah tells Rahul Gandhi, slams anti-SIR protests
In his first remarks on the ongoing protests against CEC Gyanesh Kumar and SIR, Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday asked Rahul Gandhi and the opposition to be ready again for a "crushing defeat" in 2029 as people are with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and claimed that the country can see through the Leader of Opposition's "plan" to get infiltrators registered as voters.
In a hard-hitting statement, Shah said that while the SIR started in 2024, the Congress has been losing continuously ever since Rahul Gandhi took over the party leadership.
Citing the opposition party's dismal performance in the recent bypolls and local body elections in several states, he said the kind of "negative politics" the Congress has been engaged in will not benefit it as it needs to connect with the public and asked the opposition party to introspect.
"Ever since you became the principal leader of the Congress, and later its president, and now the Leader of the Opposition, the Congress party has continuously lost elections," he said.
"You need to engage in introspection. You cannot win the trust of the country's people through fabricated media events and echoes of lies," he said, adding that the Congress is on a losing spree for decades now.
"I want to ask Shri Rahul Gandhi ji directly: Is this the result of the SIR? The SIR started only after 2024," Shah said.
Criticising Gandhi, the Home Minister said people of India know his plans of "getting infiltrators registered as voters".
"I want to tell Shri Rahul ji and his associates to prepare themselves once again for a crushing defeat in 2029. In the 2029 general elections, the NDA is going to win with a resounding majority, and the Congress is going to face defeat for the fourth consecutive time.
"The people of this country are with Narendra Modi ji, with the BJP, with the NDA. You cannot deny this truth," he told reporters in Delhi.
