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Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka sent to 5-day judicial remand in Tihar Jail for allegedly violating their peace bonds and 'trespassing' into Jantar Mantar
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday (October 14) met students injured during the CEC-SIR protests and urges them to create evidence when detained, saying it can be used to get justice.
He lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he should not come in the way of protesting students, who are “India’s voice”. “It is one protest, one voice, that of India; that voice is being suppressed,” he alleged.
He also vowed to get everyone who beat up students during the protests punished, from the PM to the police.
Rahul bats for CJP leaders
Earlier in the day, he lashed out at the Modi government after Cockroach Janta Party leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were sent to judicial custody, saying waving the tricolour at Jantar Mantar in a peaceful protest was not a crime and jailing youth for it was an act of cowardice.
Rahul also said Jantar Mantar belongs to the people of India and asserted that “we will reclaim it”.
“Students. Youth. Journalists. The INDIA bloc. Different banners, one cause. All protests are one: citizens demanding their constitutional rights,” the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.
Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka sent to Tihar
His remarks came after Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Das and Ranka were sent to five-day judicial custody and lodged in Tihar Jail for allegedly violating their peace bonds and trespassing into Jantar Mantar, which has been denotified as a protest area, police said.
Their associate Ajinkya Shinde was bound down to maintain peace and good behaviour for six months and released on a personal bond and a surety of Rs 5,000.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke alleged that PM Modi was imposing an “unofficial Emergency” in the country. Talking to reporters in Nagpur, Dipke sought to know what offence Das and Ranka had committed by waving the tricolour at Jantar Mantar.
'Unofficial Emergency'
“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 the guts,” he added.
Dipke thanked Rahul Gandhi and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal for speaking up for Das and Ranka.
Also read:
Rahul: Our mission is 'restoration of democracy in India'
Can Delhi Police take Jantar Mantar off the protest map?
How Rahul planned INDIA bloc's impromptu Jantar Mantar protest, defied Delhi Police
CJP protest: Four former CMs among Opposition leaders detained in Delhi
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Live Updates
- 14 Oct 2026 12:29 PM IST
Rekha Gupta says CJP acting like AAP's B-Team, dares it to protest in Punjab
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has accused the Cockroach Janta Party of acting like a "B-Team" of the Aam Aadmi Party and challenged it to protest in Punjab over the killing of an anti-drug activist there.
Addressing a press conference, Gupta accused the Opposition parties and other outfits of "colluding with foreign elements" to harm India.
Alleging that the CJP never stages protests over issues in Opposition-ruled states, she challenged it to protest in Punjab where an anti-drug activist was murdered on Tuesday.
Activist Parvinder Singh alias Jhota, known for raising his voice against drug abuse and the illegal sale of addictive substances at chemist shops, was shot dead in broad daylight in a busy market in Punjab's Mansa district on October 13.
"Why do they act like the B-Team of AAP and work only on agendas suited to the party?" Gupta asked.
She also slammed the CJP's insistence on protesting at Jantar Mantar, which has recently been denotified as a designated protest site, saying that they were bent on troubling Delhi people and "destroying" the city.
- 14 Oct 2026 12:10 PM IST
SC to hear plea on Delhi SIR on October 28
The Supreme Court said it would hear on October 28 a plea seeking a direction to the Election Commission to place in public domain the list of electors issued notices during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral roll in Delhi along with specific reasons for each notice.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioners, mentioned the matter before a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi.
Bhushan said petitioners have filed an application seeking a direction to the EC to provide an appropriate mechanism for inclusion of those voters, whose names were omitted from the electoral roll pursuant to SIR in Delhi, without requiring them to declare that they are applying for inclusion for the first time.
He said the period for filing claims and objections under the SIR in Delhi has been extended till October 30 after which the final voter list would be published.
- 14 Oct 2026 10:59 AM IST
CJP being 'funded by donors' in US: American Singer Mary Millben
Alleging that the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) is being "funded by donors" in the US, American singer Mary Millben said it is "not the time to be silent" and called upon all "young patriots" in India to rise and peacefully protest the "disruptive spirit" of the outfit.
The 41-year-old singer said CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke and his party are being "funded by donors in the US who are against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and your future under his leadership."
This is "not the time to be silent," she said and asked "all the beautiful young patriots in India" to stand up and peacefully protest the "disruptive" forces.
"Do not fear, my young patriots. Your Prime Minister, who has served India for 25 years, 12 years as Prime Minister, elected three consecutive terms, is not going to bow to disruptive forces from my country," the post read.
"And these select donors have a pattern globally - target conservative global leaders, find a US-educated person from the country, radicalise them, send them back to the country, and fund them to start chaos and destruction. None of them has been successful but has impacted the development and governance of the country," she said.
The American singer said that there should always be a counter-movement to uphold democracy and freedom.
"It is time for a new voice in #India, born, raised, educated on the soil of India, to RISE UP, organise, and peacefully protest the disruptive spirit of the Cockroach Party... Rise up, young patriots! Rise up!," she said. - 14 Oct 2026 10:50 AM IST
Rahul Gandhi: 'Waving tricolour at Jantar Mantar in peaceful protest is not crime'
Rahul Gandhi: "Waving the Tricolour at Jantar Mantar in a peaceful protest is not a crime. Jailing youth for it is an act of cowardice."
- 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.
