Delhi police extended the judicial custody of CJP co‑convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka for two additional days on Tuesday, following a hearing by a newly appointed special executive magistrate at the Mandir Marg police station.
The men were first remanded on October 13 after they climbed a locked gate to enter Jantar Mantar, a protest site recently de‑notified, and displayed the national flag while chanting slogans against CEC Gyanesh Kumar.
Mamata Banerjee, the former West Bengal chief minister, slammed the move as an act of state‑sponsored terrorism and police‑sponsored atrocities, accusing the central government of using a "dangerous virus" to choke democracy.
She also warned that the treatment of the two could become a "threat to democracy", adding that the youth were being tortured and that the crisis was not limited to Delhi but spanned the country.
The Aam Aadmi Party’s Saurabh Bhardwaj and TMC’s Saket Gokhale weighed in on social media, calling the situation a dictatorship and criticizing the police’s role in denying bail.
According to the court, the leaders will be presented to the special executive magistrate again on Wednesday, and Mamata has demanded a swift release before the next hearing.