They have been holding protests over alleged electoral fraud for days now. Because he was taken into custody even before he could join Friday’s ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ march at Connaught Place, as opposed to his colleagues Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, who were sent to jail for actually having held a protest, sources said on Saturday, cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke was released on conditions on Saturday.
Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were sent to 5-day judicial custody for entering Jantar Mantar despite police orders and trying to disturb the peace; Abhijeet Dipke was released because of a key difference, sources told NDTV.
READ | Abhijeet Dipke Released After Signing ‘Peace Bond’ On Court Orders Both cases came up under the same law. Dipke was produced before a Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) at Mandir Marg on Saturday. He walked out of the Mandir Marg police station soon after the hearing. Neither involves prosecution for an offence as such. Das and Ranka were remanded to five days of judicial custody.
That period ends on Sunday, October 18. He was ordered to furnish a bond of Rs 50,000 and give an undertaking that he would not disturb the peace. Dipke was formally arrested in a fresh breach-of-peace case under Sections 126 and 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), police said. Section 170 allows police to arrest a person to prevent a cognisable offence, and Section 126 empowers an executive magistrate to demand a bond for keeping the peace. Shinde was told to execute a personal bond and surety of Rs 5,000, and was bound down to keep the peace for six months. Das and Ranka’s custody ends on Sunday, October 18. Police said that on the morning of October 13, Das, Ranka, Shinde and 11 other CJP members reached Jantar Mantar by allegedly entering through private property. Two days earlier, on October 11, Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar had issued an order removing the site from the list of designated protest venues. All 14 were detained.
In the Das-Ranka-Shinde case, the three faced allegations of trespass, bond violation and obstruction of a public servant’s duty, according to CJP legal head Ratna Singh. The SEM court observed that there was “a serious apprehension” that they could again violate the law and instigate others to do so if released, a Delhi Police press note said. Police personnel tried to stop them, but the protesters allegedly obstructed the officials in the discharge of their duties, police said.
Earlier this week, Das and Ranka were sent to five-day judicial custody for allegedly entering Jantar Mantar despite police orders and trying to disturb the peace.
