Annamalai backs CJP leaders, questions their continued custody

NEW DELHI: Former Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai on Tuesday expressed Cockroach Janata Party and questioned Delhi Police's handling of the case against its leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka.While talking to reporters, Annamalai said that continued judicial custody of CJP leaders raises concerns about the rule of law."I'm a little bit concerned in our country. I have a feeling they (Delhi Police) have taken the law into their hands, and the judge gets recused... I may not agree with many of the CJP's modes of protest. I may not agree with some of the antics of CJP. That's a different argument. But I completely support CJP in terms of the questions they want to raise."It is for the government to answer. But to arrest them for a violation and again to drag them in terms of how they spend their time in jail, that is only going to make the leaders of CJP stronger. I'm afraid of saying that the Delhi police are doing a real disservice," he added.He also said that Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi has every right to question the SIR process, but institutional damage should not be caused. "Rahul Gandhi has every right to question the SIR process, but institutional damage should not be caused," he further said.Earlier on Monday, a Delhi court extended the CJP leaders' judicial custody by two days for allegedly entering Jantar Mantar, which is no longer a designated protest venue, and obstructing police personnel on duty.Along with other CJP workers, they waved the national flag at the site and raised slogans against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar before being detained and placed under preventive custody.According to their lawyer, their bail sureties were rejected due to a reported mismatch in documents. They will now be produced before the court on Wednesday.Meanwhile, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and praised Das and Ranka for remaining defiant despite spending five days in judicial custody. "You must be feeling very strong keeping a 26-year-old Saurav Das in jail. You must be feeling very strong beating children on the streets. You must be feeling very strong putting up barricades across Delhi and dragging students on the streets," he said.Dipke claimed that Das and Ranka had gone to Jantar Mantar to wave the national flag but were sent to judicial custody. He also alleged that their court hearings had been repeatedly postponed. "Is this strength? Hiding behind the police, hiding behind the courts, is this Narendra Modi's strength?" he asked. Rohitashwa Ranjan is a digital journalist with The Times of India, where he decodes Indian politics as a carefully staged production with scripts, subtext and everything behind. His stories track elections, party dynamics and the things that often are buried beneath the headlines. When not parsing vote shares or alliances, he is usually reading between the lines, where the real story tends to reside.