Police took our phones for 24 hours, might plant evidence": CJP leaders after release from detention

Hours after being released from Delhi police custody on Sunday, Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das claimed that their phones had been seized and held by police for 24 hours while they were in detention, and expressed fears their devices might have been "cloned" or tampered with,

"They picked us up as if we were criminals. They took our phones forcibly," Das alleged, adding that all three of them had been taken to different locations.

He alleged that their phones had been retained for 24 hours and expressed apprehension that the devices might have been cloned or tampered with.

All three top CJP leaders -- Ranka, Das and Abhijeet Dipke -- had been detained from the aircraft in which they had landed in Delhi on Saturday morning. They were released on Sunday morning, with police saying that their release included a bond for "maintaining peace and good behaviour, for a period of one year."

Responding to a question on this, Ranke alleged that "the actual breach of peace was being caused by Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah."

He claimed that the clampdown on protest over the weekend and the mass detention of protestors has "damaged the image of our country."

"In the past two days, we have seen the detention of thousands of protestors. The situation was so bad that yesterday they detained us from the flight... This fight has just started. This fight has become like a war created by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah," he said, appealing to people to join them in protest.

Das said that the protestors wanted to protest at the designated protest site at Jantar Mantar, and alleged that the move to turn it into a highly secured fortress is inconveniencing residents and creating an atmosphere of confrontation.

"The people want to protest at the designated site. The government should have come forward to talk with us. More than 40,000 troops are here. It has become a fortress. You have created a war-like situation and people are facing problems," he said.

The CJP leaders said their protests would continue peacefully across the country until their demands are met.

"We are holding a protest march again today, and our agitation will continue until we get the resignation," said Ranka.

Both leaders accused right-wing groups of instigating violence and alleged that members of the BJP were supporting them. On Sunday, four men -- who claim to be part of right wing Hindu Raksha Dal -- were arrested in connection with a viral video allegedly showing a group of individuals assaulting young students and pushing and hitting women on a stretch of DDU Marg in Delhi.