A Delhi court on Wednesday remanded Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka to five days of judicial custody in connection with an alleged trespass at Jantar Mantar, a day after the protest site was denotified as an authorised venue for demonstrations. Another CJP activist, Ajinkya Shinde, was released on a personal bond.

The three activists were detained by Delhi Police on October 13 after allegedly scaling locked gates and police barricades to enter Jantar Mantar, where they waved the national flag and raised slogans demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The activists were subsequently produced before a Special Executive Magistrate court on Wednesday.

Delhi Police registered a case against the CJP leaders and other members over the alleged unauthorised entry. The reported allegations include trespass, unlawful assembly, disobedience of prohibitory orders, breach of a peace bond and obstructing a public servant in the discharge of official duties.

Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka had previously been detained on October 10, along with CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, after arriving in Delhi to participate in a protest demanding the Chief Election Commissioner’s resignation. They were released the following day after furnishing bonds undertaking to maintain peace for a year.

The latest action followed the Delhi Police Commissioner’s October 11 order designating Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground in east Delhi as authorised venues for protests and demonstrations. Jantar Mantar was subsequently denotified as a designated protest site. The CJP has opposed the relocation, arguing that moving demonstrations away from the political centre of the national capital would reduce the visibility of public dissent.

The country is seeing protests and marches against alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with demonstrators demanding Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.