Delhi Police Deploy 1,400 Extra Officers for CJP Protest at Jantar Mantar
On Monday morning, Delhi Police deployed 1,400 additional personnel and heavily fortified Jantar Mantar in New Delhi to block a protest march to Parliament organized by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). The demonstration, which drew around 10,000 protesters, was held to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over competitive exam paper leaks.
To bolster security at the start of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, Delhi Police headquarters sent an urgent communication on Monday morning directing all 14 police districts to immediately send one Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP)-rank officer and 100 personnel each to the protest site.
This reinforcement was deployed alongside 32 companies of paramilitary forces, which comprised more than 2,000 personnel. The influx of officers brought the total security presence in the area to over 3,400 personnel.
The police divided the New Delhi district into 12 security zones. Each zone was supervised by an officer of the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) or Additional DCP, while Joint or Additional Commissioners oversaw every two zones. Additionally, technicians installed multiple new CCTV cameras on roads connecting Jantar Mantar and Parliament.
To limit the crowd size, Delhi Police headquarters issued a directive on Sunday evening ordering personnel to preemptively stop political leaders and key supporters from leaving their homes. Officers arrived at the residences of these leaders around 5:00 AM on Monday to prevent them from traveling to the protest.
At the protest site, routes leading to Parliament were sealed and prohibitory orders were imposed. CJP founder Abhijit Dipke and actor Prakash Raj were present among the crowd. Activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar, was moved to a hospital on Saturday by police citing his health condition.
To manage the situation, DCP (New Delhi district) Sachin Sharma held an online meeting with district personnel on Sunday night. He instructed officers to avoid confrontation with the demonstrators and to keep them calm through persuasion.
