Fourteen members of the Cockroach Janta Party, including Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka, and Ajinkya Shinde, faced detention by the Delhi Police on Tuesday, October 13, 2026. The swift police action unfolded as the demonstrators attempted to enter Jantar Mantar, just a day after authorities de-notified the protest site and designated three alternative venues for public demonstrations.
Detentions at Jantar Mantar and New Police Restrictions
The New Delhi district police acted quickly following the Tuesday morning attempt, registering a first information report against the detained individuals. Charges filed against the party members include unlawful assembly and disobedience of an order promulgated by a public servant, according to an official close to the development.
Hours after the intervention, CJP member Abhijit Dipke published a video on X showing party members carrying the national flag near the restricted venue. “Cockroaches with the Tiranga sneaked into Jantar Mantar early this morning before they were picked up by Delhi Police,” the post stated, adding that resistance cannot be de-notified. A senior Delhi Police officer explained to The Hindu that the protesters bypassed restrictions by entering through nearby eateries and food stalls.
Cockroaches with the Tiranga sneaked into Jantar Mantar early this morning before they were picked up by Delhi Police. @AshutoshRanka, @SauravDassss, @AjinkyaCJP along with other team members have been detained. You cannot denotify the resistance, @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/x7B40akCVO
According to police statements, those commercial spaces serve as regular dining spots for office employees and remain publicly accessible except on major protest days. With Jantar Mantar no longer notified as an authorised protest venue, demonstrations there would be illegal, police noted. These detentions form part of a broader wave of preventive measures targeting demonstrations called by the CJP and other groups demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
Legal Fallout From the INDIA Bloc March
In a parallel development, the Delhi Police registered at least two separate first information reports over the INDIA bloc’s march through Central Delhi on Monday, October 12, 2026. Those cases, lodged at the Barakhamba Road and Tilak Marg police stations, cite the absence of permission for the demonstration and alleged damage to barricades and public property, as reported by The Times of India.
Monday’s ‘March for Democracy’ saw INDIA bloc leaders—including Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee—walk along Barakhamba Road toward the Supreme Court. Scroll.in noted that at least three prior FIRs were filed against Gandhi following an earlier protest on October 7, carrying charges of assaulting police personnel and obstructing government work. Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was also named in those FIRs.
Following Monday’s march, 11 opposition leaders formally moved the Supreme Court, challenging the Election Commission’s decisions regarding the Special Intensive Revision exercise. The Supreme Court Registry subsequently flagged 14 defects in the writ petition. Concurrently, Telegraph India reported that the Delhi Police wrote to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs seeking an extension of the deployment of 273 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces in the national capital through October 20, citing concerns over potential demonstrations at sensitive locations including Jantar Mantar, Parliament House, and the Election Commission.
