The controversy over the delay in hearing of plea for the release of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das took a fresh turn on Jattvibeday after the Delhi Police registered an FIR following an alleged threat to the Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) concerned.The development came as lawyers for the two CJP leaders, detained in connection with the party’s Jantar Mantar protest, waited for hours at the Mandir Marg police station for the hearing.Reacting to today’s development, CJP’s founder Abhijeet Dipke said, “The state is deliberately prolonging Ashu and Saurav’s illegal arrest by using every dirty trick in the book to delay court proceedings and prevent their release. They have no legal grounds to keep them behind bars. So, they are resorting to delaying tactics to keep them there.”Sources informed The Tribune that the FIR is currently against unidentified persons and is registered at Mandir Marg police station, and there is no indication that Ranka or Das have been accused of sending the alleged threatening message.Meanwhile, CJP’s legal head, Ratna Singh, said the lawyers had been at the police station since morning and were expecting the matter to be heard around noon. However, the hearing was repeatedly delayed, and the SEM arrived only around 5.30 pm, she claimed.During the hearing, the SEM reportedly told those present that he had received a threatening message. The police subsequently registered an FIR against unidentified persons.Singh questioned the relevance of the alleged threat to the release proceedings. “If someone has threatened the magistrate, action should be taken against that person. Why should the release of Ashutosh and Saurav be linked to it?” she said.She also alleged that the government counsel had not appeared during the proceedings for the previous four days and attended those on the fifth day.The CJP legal head said the lawyers had repeatedly sought clarity on when the hearing would take place but were left waiting through the day. She questioned why — when the matter concerned the release of the two detainees — no decision was taken on their pleas.The development adds another layer to the dispute surrounding the detention of CJP leaders following their protests at Jantar Mantar against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.While the party has alleged that administrative delays are being used to prolong the detention of its leaders, the police case over the alleged threat now puts the conduct and security of the magistrate under a separate investigation.