Hours after Cockroach Janta Party's Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and Ajinkya Shinde, among others, were detained on Tuesday morning, the pressure group has claimed that the leaders have not been allowed to meet lawyers.
Taking to X, CJP's legal head Ratna Singh alleged that Das, Ranka and other leaders, who are detained at Jaffarpur Kalan police station, have not been allowed to meet with legal representatives. She also added that their phones have been taken away. Track LIVE updates on Delhi protests here
"The SHO of Jaffarpur Kalan police station has refused to let the lawyer meet them, while their phones have been confiscated, raise serious concerns. Under what legal authority are they being detained and why is their lawyer being denied access?" Singh wrote on social media.
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{{/usCountry}}Also Read | From London's Hyde Park to Delhi's Jantar Mantar, the idea and history of ‘designated’ protest sites
{{/usCountry}}Speaking to PTI, CJP's legal representative Pushp Sharma added that he has not been allowed to meet Das, Ranka and the 12 others detained with them.
“I had been in constant contact with Saurav Das through WhatsApp messages and phone calls. His last message to me was that their phones were being taken away. Since then, I have repeatedly tried calling him, but he has not answered. I have also repeatedly requested the SHO to allow me inside to meet them. I have informed the police that they have the right to meet their lawyer, but I have only been told that they are being kept safe and that I can call if I need to discuss anything with them,” he said, adding that he is unable to call Team CJP since their phones have been taken away.
Deep Dive
Why were CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka detained in Delhi?
Were CJP leaders allowed to meet their lawyers after being detained?
What did CJP claim police did with the detained leaders’ phones?
On Tuesday morning, CJP's co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained by the Delhi Police after entering Jantar Mantar by jumping the locked gates, a day after the site lost its designated protest venue status.
Ranka shared a video on his X handle, showing him and Das, along with Shinde, climbing over the locked gates of Jantar Mantar and entering the venue before police personnel present there intervened and took them into custody.
Speaking to HT earlier, a senior police officer claimed that Das and Ranka came with at least 10 more people and managed to enter Jantar Mantar carrying the national flag to protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
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Sharing a video of the incident, Saurav Das said that the CJP has "reclaimed the site".
“In less than 24 hours of Jantar Mantar being denotified as a designated protest site, we reclaimed it. This is a message to the government - hands off people's Jantar Mantar! Gyanu's time is over," Das wrote on social media.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke hailed the breach of Jantar Mantar, stating that the resistance cannot be "de-notified."
The Delhi Police issued a circular on Monday, which de-notified Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site. The circular further listed three new sites — Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground as designated protest sites. With this, the Lutyens' Delhi site, where CJP led a mega stir in June and July that led to the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, is now off limits.