Delhi Police on October 19 moved the trespassing case against two Cockroach Janta Party leaders to the Inter State Cell of the Crime Branch, shortly after a magistrate extended their judicial custody by two days.
The transfer lifts a protest-related case into a specialist unit. One report described it as unprecedented for a trespass-related matter, while police say the two trespassed through private premises to reach Jantar Mantar and obstructed police personnel.
The party says the authorities are deliberately prolonging the detention, and police say releasing the two could threaten public peace. Both are claims, and reports say the magistrate rejected the sureties offered, citing mismatches in the documents.
The leaders are accused and not convicted, and the next court date and any further charges will show how strong the case is.
According to that report, one surety’s photograph did not match the image on the Aadhaar card, and another surety’s documents lacked basic details, including parentage.
The party’s leaders were detained on October 13 after allegedly entering the Jantar Mantar area, and reports say they raised slogans against the Chief Election Commissioner and unfurled the national flag, according to ThePrint.
On October 14, a Special Executive Magistrate sent the two leaders to judicial custody, according to the same report.
Police allege that they trespassed through private premises to reach Jantar Mantar, which had been de-notified as a protest site a day earlier, and that they violated bonds requiring them to keep the peace.
Delhi Police allege that the protesters obstructed police personnel from discharging their duties, according to ThePrint.
Two FIRs are involved, according to ThePrint. The Connaught Place police station FIR invokes Sections 223A, 332 and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Section 223A deals with disobedience of an order promulgated by a public servant, Section 332 with house-trespass to commit an offence, and Section 61(2) with criminal conspiracy.
Barakhamba Road, New Delhi (file image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0