New Delhi extends detention of CJP leaders by another two days — Dawn

A magistrate in New Delhi, India, extended by two days the detention of two leaders of the youth movement Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) — Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das. They were taken into custody on October 14, Dawn reports.

Reasons for the detention

Police said Das and Ranka were detained over alleged repeated attempts to disturb public order and violate the law. According to law enforcement, the activists jumped over police barricades at Jantar Mantar, an old protest site in the center of the capital, to wave the national flag.

The police statement also said that they took into account the alleged attempts by both men to call on others via social media to carry out similar illegal actions. Television footage showed Ranka and Das being driven away from the police station in a blue police van after the hearing.

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Protesters' demands

CJP activists and opposition parties are demanding the resignation of India's chief election commissioner. They accuse the election body of manipulating voter lists in favor of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party. The Election Commission denied any wrongdoing.

Ratna Singh, the movement's head of legal affairs, called the extension of the detention a parody of the justice system. Jantar Mantar has been blocked by yellow metal barriers and guarded by security personnel for more than a week. Last week, Delhi police said they had removed the site from the list of permitted protest venues.