New Delhi: A Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) court in Delhi on Wednesday ordered the release of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) activists Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, officials said, in a development also reported by PTI. Assistant Commissioner of Police Ritu Raj, acting as the SEM, passed the release order after accepting the sureties furnished by the two leaders.

Source: Bar and Bench

Delhi Police had sought an extension of the duo's judicial custody by three more days, Bar and Bench reported. The court did not accept that plea and instead ordered their release once the sureties were accepted, ending the custody that was due to expire on Wednesday.

Source: PTI via PTI News (Instagram)

Das and Ranka were detained on October 13 after they allegedly climbed the gates of the barricaded Jantar Mantar site, which had been denotified as a designated protest venue — an allegation made by police. They were sent to judicial custody for five days on October 14, and their custody was extended by two more days on October 19, when the SEM said their conduct showed, in its words, 'habitualness' in calling protests at de-notified areas and rejected the sureties then produced as unfit.

Earlier on Wednesday, the two had withdrawn their Delhi High Court petition challenging the October 19 custody extension, after Justice Subramonium Prasad said the SEM court was seized of the matter that day and that a revision plea would be the more appropriate remedy if they got no relief there. Advocates Abhik Chimni and Pranjal Abrol appeared for Das and Ranka before both courts.