Das and Ranka reportedly reached Jantar Mantar despite the restrictions and were taken into custody by Delhi Police. Their current location and the place where they were taken remain unknown.
Under a standing order issued by Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar on October 11, Jantar Mantar has been removed from the list of designated locations for protests and demonstrations in the national capital. Protests will instead be permitted at Ramlila Maidan, Burari Maidan and the CBD (Central Business District) ground in East Delhi.
The latest detention follows the preventive arrests of CJP leaders Abhijit Deepke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das on October 10. The three were detained at Delhi Airport ahead of a planned demonstration at Jantar Mantar and subsequently arrested as a preventive measure. They were produced before an Executive Magistrate on Sunday and released after furnishing a bail bond of Rs 50,000.
Their release was subject to the condition that they would not engage in any activity that could disturb the peace for one year and would maintain good behaviour.
Following the police order removing Jantar Mantar from the list of authorised protest sites, CJP founder Abhijit Deepke criticised the decision and warned that the entire country would become Jantar Mantar. Deepke said that if the situation continued, a day could come when the BJP removed democracy itself from the country.
CJP leader Saurav Das also opposed the decision, saying the government’s move to remove Jantar Mantar as a protest venue was unacceptable to him and that he would not comply with what he described as an arbitrary decision.
In a post on X, Deepke wrote, “Young people are being attacked, journalists are being attacked, and even Delhi Police is attacking MPs. Why is Gyanesh Kumar so important to Modi that he is ready to wage war against everyone to protect him?”
CJP and opposition parties have been demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists. The repeated detentions of CJP leaders and the removal of Jantar Mantar from the authorised protest venues have intensified the dispute over the party’s attempts to demonstrate in the capital.
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