Two Cockroach Janata Party leaders sentenced to five‑day jail for breaching protest ban

Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das received five‑day sentences for scaling barricades at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, a site stripped of its protest status.

By Felo News Desk · Published Wed, 14 Oct 2026 07:17:23 GMT

Two leaders of the youth‑led Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) were sentenced to five days in Delhi's Tihar prison for violating a court‑ordered ban on protests at Jantar Mantar, according to the Guardian and the Independent.

What happened

On Tuesday, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, senior figures in the CJP, jumped police barricades at Jantar Mantar, a historic open‑air observatory that had long served as the capital’s designated protest site. They raised slogans and waved the Indian flag before being tackled and detained by police. A court later ordered that both serve a five‑day term in jail for breaching the ban.

What the reports add

The Guardian noted that the sentencing was for “jumping over police barricades, holding up slogans and waving the Indian flag” and highlighted that the site’s official protest status had been stripped earlier in the week.
The Independent reported that the court cited a violation of a bond that had secured the leaders’ earlier release, and that the detention followed a day after the barricade‑scaling incident.
The Guardian added that the UN human‑rights commissioner criticised the Indian government’s crackdown, which the Modi administration dismissed as “unwarranted interference in internal affairs”.
The Independent quoted CJP lawyer Abhisht Hela saying, “Delhi Police said they had violated their bond, and that they could do this again… that what they have done is a violation of law.”
Independent also included CJP leader Ajinkya Shinde’s statement: “We will not be frightened by its leaders' imprisonment… We will put an end to this dictatorial government.”

What was said

"You cannot denotify the resistance," said Abhijit Dipke, founder of the CJP, in a social‑media post (the Guardian).

"Delhi Police said they had violated their bond, and that they could do this again… that what they have done is a violation of law," lawyer Abhisht Hela told reporters (the Independent).

"We will not be frightened by its leaders' imprisonment… We will put an end to this dictatorial government," CJP leader Ajinkya Shinde said (the Independent).

The Election Commission denied favouring any party and said wrongly deleted voters can re‑enrol (both outlets).

BJP spokesman Sambit Patra called the demonstrators “anarchic elements” (context pack).

How it came about

The incident follows a series of crackdowns on CJP activities. On 10 October, Delhi entered a lockdown after police sealed off Jantar Mantar, cancelled trains and suspended mobile internet, detaining over 1,000 protesters and opposition figures (Felo report). Earlier, on 11 October, an executive magistrate ordered the release of three CJP leaders on a one‑year no‑breach‑of‑peace pledge (Felo report). The current sentencing marks a renewed enforcement of the ban on the historic protest venue.

Key facts

Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das were sentenced to five days in Tihar jail (theguardian.com)
The sentencing was for breaching a ban on protests at Jantar Mantar (independent.co.uk)
Jantar Mantar had its official protest status revoked earlier in the week (theguardian.com)