Jantar Mantar protest case: CJP leaders Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka appear before Crime Branch | India News
Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) co-conveners Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka on Thursday reached the Delhi Police Crime Branch office in Rajouri Garden after being summoned for questioning in connection with cases linked to protests at the denotified Jantar Mantar site in October, officials said.
Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were arrested for entering the denotified Jantar Mantar protest site and allegedly violating a peace bond.The two leaders had earlier been arrested and sent to judicial custody after entering the denotified protest site at Jantar Mantar and waving the national flag on October 13, which police said also violated a peace bond signed by them on October 11.
They were released from Tihar jail on October 21 after furnishing personal and surety bonds of ₹50,000 each. The cases against the CJP leaders were later transferred to the Crime Branch, which had earlier summoned Das and Ranka for questioning before the end of October, but they sought more time.
The cases stem from an October 14 incident in which Das, Ranka and CJP leader Ajinkya Shinde, along with 11 others, allegedly trespassed into Jantar Mantar, which had been de-notified as the designated protest site. The group was protesting against alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and raised slogans against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
All of them were detained by Delhi Police. While Shinde was released on bail after being asked to sign a peace bond, Das and Ranka remained in judicial custody for about a week.
Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) Ritu Raj directed the release of the two activists after they furnished personal bonds and surety bonds of ₹50,000 each until the conclusion of the inquiry in connection with the Jantar Mantar trespassing case.
In their written undertakings, Das and Ranka promised not to commit any breach of peace and expressed full faith in the judiciary and all its instruments, including the SEM court, police said.
Jignasa Sinha is a Special Correspondent at Hindustan Times in New Delhi. With more than six years of reporting experience, she covers crime and policing in the national capital. Her beats also include Delhi prisons, the Delhi Fire Services and Delhi courts, while she regularly reports on gender, labour and social justice. Over the course of her career, Jignasa has reported on major criminal investigations, international crime syndicates, high-profile cyber fraud cases, law-and-order developments, protests, disasters and public institutions. Her reporting combines breaking news with in-depth, long form, human interest stories that examine the human impact of public policy, policing and the criminal justice system. In addition to reporting for the newspaper, she contributes to the Hindustan Times website and app, and plays an active role in coordinating on-ground coverage of major developments and breaking news across Delhi. Before joining Hindustan Times, Jignasa worked at The Indian Express newspaper in New Delhi, where she spent five years covering crime, Delhi airport, courts and health. She began her journalism career as an intern at an AI magazine in Bengaluru while pursuing her postgraduate diploma in multimedia journalism at the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media.Read More
