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Peek TV | October 15, 2026
Roaches Trapped, Dissent Caged?
The Fact: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were sent to five-day judicial custody and lodged in Tihar Jail on Wednesday, October 14, for allegedly violating their peace bonds and trespassing into Jantar Mantar after the protest site was de-notified. After spending almost an entire day in preventive detention, Das and Ranka were sent to judicial custody. Two separate cases were registered against the group. One was at Connaught Place police station under sections related to disobedience of an order given by a public servant, house trespass, and criminal conspiracy. The second was registered at Parliament Street. Das, Ranka and Ajinkya Shinde were produced before the Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) court at Mandir Marg, where Ranka and Das were sent to five-day judicial custody. Shinde was released after a bail bond of Rs 5,000 on the condition that for one year, he would not participate in activity that would breach peace.
The Context: CJP leaders Das, Ranka and Shinde, along with 11 other members, allegedly came through a narrow lane behind the Janata Dal (United) office, climbed over a locked iron gate and entered the protest site, where they unfurled the Tricolour and raised slogans demanding CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. They were immediately detained by the police. The Delhi police accused Das and Ranka of repeatedly attempting to disturb public peace and violate the law. Ranka and Das had signed a Rs.50,000 bond to maintain peace for a year after being detained on Saturday during an earlier protest in the national capital. While Shinde was released after signing a bail bond, Das and Ranka were sent to judicial custody. Their alleged attempts to mobilise others through social media to engage in similar unlawful activities were also taken into consideration.
The Peek Insight: With the CJP leaders being sent to Tihar Jail, the police action marks a dramatic escalation. While trespassing is a relatively minor offence, a criminal conspiracy charge puts the CJP leaders in a legal predicament. CJP’s earlier protests had involved preventive detention, but the latest action raises questions about how authorities are responding to the group’s continued demonstrations. The right to protest forms the cornerstone of a democratic nation. When people leading a youth movement are arrested and jailed for such demonstrations, it begs the question: is dissent not permitted in India anymore?
