Both FIRs from the Jantar Mantar protest case, one alleging trespass and the other obstruction of police, are now with the Crime Branch’s Inter State Cell, and they name CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka.
New Delhi: According to police sources, the Inter State Cell of the Delhi Police Crime Branch now holds the investigation into two FIRs against Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, which arise from the October 13 protest at Jantar Mantar. The handover took place on Monday, October 19 [State v. Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka].
Who ordered the transfer, and the FIR numbers, were not available when this report was filed.
The two FIRs, section by section
One FIR, registered at Connaught Place police station, invokes Sections 223A (disobedience of a promulgated order), 332 (house-trespass to commit an offence) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Police allege that the two went through private premises to get to Jantar Mantar.
The second, at Parliament Street police station, relates to the alleged obstruction of police personnel during the protest. It invokes Sections 221 (obstructing a public servant), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 132 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant) and 121(1) (hurt to deter a public servant from duty), read with Section 3(5) (common intention) of the BNS.
The protest that led to them
Jantar Mantar had been de-notified as a designated protest site a day before the protest. On October 13, Das, Ranka and other CJP members were detained after allegedly entering the area, shouting slogans against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and unfurling the national flag. Another CJP member detained with them, Ajinkya Shinde, was bound down for six months and released on a personal bond and a Rs 5,000 surety.
Why the two are in custody, separately
Neither FIR is the reason the two are in custody. That follows from preventive proceedings under Sections 126 and 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, in which a Special Executive Magistrate sent them to judicial custody on October 14 for allegedly breaching their peace bonds. On October 19, the Special Executive Magistrate at Mandir Marg extended it by two days, not the five the police sought, recording that they had “deliberately” breached bonds executed on October 11 and citing their “habitualness in calling protest at de-notified areas.” The custody ends on October 21, when they are due to be produced again.
The October 19 order is what the two took to the Delhi High Court on October 20, contending, among other things, that their sureties were wrongly rejected. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke was granted conditional release by a Special Executive Magistrate on October 17, subject to a one-year peace bond.
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Both FIRs record the police’s case, which is untested. Das and Ranka are presumed innocent, no court has examined the charges, and the CJP’s response to the transfer is not yet on record.
Case: FIRs at PS Connaught Place and PS Parliament Street against Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka (FIR numbers not available)
Investigating agency: Inter State Cell, Crime Branch, Delhi Police
Date of transfer: October 19, 2026