Delhi Police registered a First Information Report on Tuesday naming Congress Janta Party (CJP) members Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, along with other party affiliates, over their entry into the Jantar Mantar area without the required permission.

Within hours of Das and Ranka being detained, after the pair climbed over locked gates to access the restricted protest zone and publicly demanded that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar vacate his position, the situation moved quickly. Footage posted by Ranka to his X account captured him, Das, and Ajinkya Shinde — the organisation's national organisation in-charge — scaling the locked gates at Jantar Mantar and making their way inside, at which point police personnel on the premises stepped in and detained the three of them.

In a post on X, Saurav Das reported that the individuals had been transported to Jaffarpur Police Station.

A Delhi Police circular announced on Monday that Jantar Mantar had been removed from its designated list of approved protest venues. Three protest venues, distributed at various points across the city, were added to the approved list. A panel assembled by the Ministry of Home Affairs, as detailed in the circular, was tasked with identifying replacement locations where gatherings and demonstrations by members of the public could take place, separate from the existing designated area. Three locations — Ramlila Ground, Burari Ground, and CBD Ground in Shahdara — have been approved to host public gatherings, rallies, and demonstrations going forward.

Abhijeet Dipke, who founded CJP, noted in response to the denotification order that the authorities had stripped Jantar Mantar of its status as an approved venue for demonstrations, and that the location had subsequently been rendered a restricted zone. Following the entry incident at Jantar Mantar, Dipke posted on X, referring to those who had entered the site alongside a mention of the national flag, then stated — in response to the detentions of Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka, and Ajinkya Shinde — that protest activity at that location could not be brought to an end through such actions.

Shortly after being taken into custody, Das posted a video to his Instagram account in which Ashutosh Ranka stated that the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar would be secured from Jantar Mantar, adding that the group had entered the site and that this outcome would come to pass regardless of any obstacles. In a separate online post, Das stated that within a day of Jantar Mantar losing its status as an authorised demonstration venue, protesters had returned to occupy the space.

Protesters called on the authorities to keep Jantar Mantar accessible to the public. The site was drawn back into public attention last month after a news inquiry raised questions about Kumar in connection with alleged irregularities during an election process, lending fresh traction to opposition claims of "vote chori" — a term meaning vote theft — tied to the Special Intensive Revision exercise.