NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Monday transferred the trespassing case against Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das to the crime branch, news agency ANI reported, citing sources.This came hours after a Delhi court extended the CJP leaders’ judicial custody by two days for allegedly entering Jantar Mantar, which is no longer a designated protest venue, and obstructing police personnel on duty.Along with other CJP workers, they waved the national flag at the site and raised slogans against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar before being detained and placed under preventive custody.According to their lawyer, their bail sureties were rejected due to a reported mismatch in documents. They will now be produced before the court on Wednesday.“Today, when we reached the court, the five-day custody period had ended. On the last date of hearing, the court had stated that it did not find the sureties legitimate enough to be accepted. Today, we produced fresh sureties and brought them to court. When our matter was taken up, the State filed a fresh application, which was served on us at that point. In this application, they sought a further five to seven days of judicial custody,” the CJP leaders’ advocate said.“The reasons they gave were absolutely shocking to us. They claimed there was an imminent threat to public order and public tranquillity and that, therefore, the accused needed to remain in judicial custody… It is very unfortunate, and everyone must remember that there is currently no FIR against my clients in connection with this issue. This concerns preventive custody. They have been detained out of fear that they might go and protest. There is no FIR, no pending case against them in this matter, and no investigation for which they need to be questioned. This is absolutely appalling and deeply disturbing. I cannot remember the last time people were kept in preventive custody under such circumstances. We will pursue the matter legally, but this has been hugely disappointing for all of us,” he added.The development came amid allegations by the CJP that the bail proceedings had been deliberately delayed to prevent the release of its two convenors, who were sent to five-day judicial custody on October 13 following a protest at Jantar Mantar.On Sunday, the special executive magistrate hearing their bail matter claimed that unknown persons were threatening him, following which the police registered a non-cognisable report.Meanwhile, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and praised Das and Ranka for remaining defiant despite spending five days in judicial custody.“You must be feeling very strong keeping a 26-year-old Saurav Das in jail. You must be feeling very strong beating children on the streets. You must be feeling very strong putting up barricades across Delhi and dragging students on the streets,” he said.
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Dipke claimed that Das and Ranka had gone to Jantar Mantar to wave the national flag but were sent to judicial custody. He also alleged that their court hearings had been repeatedly postponed. “Is this strength? Hiding behind the police, hiding behind the courts, is this Narendra Modi’s strength?” he asked.
