Delhi Police deployed 6,000-7,000 personnel across New Delhi on Friday as security was tightened around Connaught Place ahead of CJP’s ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ call, with prohibitory orders in force and Central Park closed to the public for two days.
Yellow barricades were placed along roads in Connaught Place while Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Forces personnel were stationed around Central Park, which had been identified as the proposed focal point of the gathering. A notice outside the park said entry was prohibited and warned that violators would face legal action.
A police source said around 50 of Delhi’s 200 CAPF companies were deployed on Friday. Repeated announcements over loudspeakers informed people that prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita were in force and warned against unlawful assembly.
Despite the restrictions, people carrying the national flag began gathering near Central Park from the afternoon. Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar visited several locations in Connaught Place with senior officers to review the arrangements.
Police later said fewer than 100 people had been detained during the day, although some accounts cited the figure as around 150. Those detained were taken to designated centres, according to the report. A police officer said those carrying posters and people who had gathered to protest were among those detained.
Delhi Police had appealed to protesters and members of the public not to participate in assemblies that violated the prohibitory orders or disrupted peace and business activity. The force said it could facilitate a smaller group of selected individuals to carry the Tricolour and sing the national anthem at a suitable location.
Additional Commissioner of Police and Delhi Police PRO Rajeev Ranjan said no one had contacted the department seeking permission to hold the event at Connaught Place or submitted a list of the proposed group. He said the Flag Code contained rules for respectfully hoisting the national flag and that Delhi Police had shared guidelines on social media.
Police also moved to counter videos and posts circulating online that allegedly showed personnel beating protesters. Delhi Police flagged nearly 27 such posts, including claims that officers had hit protesters on the head with batons or manhandled people. The force said the videos were old and unrelated to Friday’s events, and urged people not to circulate misleading information.
