Delhi Police will deploy heavy security around Connaught Place and Jantar Mantar ahead of a proposed protest by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on October 16, with paramilitary companies already stationed in the national capital, police sources said.
The protest, titled “Lehra do Tiranga”, has been called by CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke at Central Park in Connaught Place at 5 pm on Friday. Police personnel will be positioned at strategic locations, while barricades will be erected and the movement of protesters and commuters regulated to maintain law and order and prevent any untoward incident, according to the report.
A senior police officer said Connaught Place is not a designated protest site. The officer also said Jantar Mantar had been denotified as a designated protest site, and that demonstrations could instead be held at Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground or CBD Ground after obtaining the requisite permission.
The proposed demonstration follows the arrest of CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka. According to the report, the two were arrested after reaching Jantar Mantar and were remanded to five days of judicial custody by a Special Executive Magistrate.
Following the arrests, Dipke urged citizens to attend the Connaught Place demonstration and asserted that waving the national flag was a democratic right. The planned gathering at Central Park is therefore expected to draw additional police deployment in a busy commercial and public-space district, where security arrangements may affect the movement of both protesters and regular commuters.
The police measures will cover the areas around Connaught Place and Jantar Mantar. Connaught Place remains the proposed venue despite the police position that it is not an authorised protest site, while Jantar Mantar is no longer designated for demonstrations, according to the senior officer quoted in the report.
The CJP has also called for parallel Tiranga marches in other cities at 5 pm on Friday. The report does not specify the locations of those marches or the permissions granted for them.
Police are expected to regulate movement and maintain security around the proposed Delhi gathering. Demonstrations at the alternative locations named by the officer would require the requisite permission.
