Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders spent nearly five hours waiting at Mandir Marg police station on Sunday for a hearing on the release of party convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, who have been in judicial custody since October 14.
The proceedings, however, lasted barely eight to ten minutes before the special executive magistrate (SEM) hearing the matter, citing threats and mental harassment, leaving the duo’s release unresolved for the fifth consecutive day.
Police Cite Plans for Another Protest
Police cited Dipke’s reported remarks at the airport on Sunday that the party will strategise its next course of action. During the hearing, police alleged that CJP leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were planning another protest. They were subsequently arrested.
The SEM arrived at the police station around 1.30pm-2pm but the hearing began only around 5pm, according to CJP representatives. The party alleged that despite submitting surety bonds repeatedly since October 15 and completing the required formalities, its members were being made to wait as fresh objections were raised at different stages. Das and Ranka were detained on October 13 after allegedly scaling the locked gates of Jantar Mantar, which had been denotified as a designated protest site, along with other CJP members to unfurl the national flag.
However, a CJP spokesperson said they have no protest planned and are not even posting about it on social media. During the brief proceedings, a police officer said that the SEM, police officer Mahesh Kumar Meena, cited receiving threats over keeping the two men in judicial custody and that he was facing mental harassment and risk.
