Delhi’s New Delhi district was effectively sealed on Saturday as police and paramilitary forces deployed thousands of personnel, erected multiple layers of barricades and detained protesters ahead of the CJP demonstration demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
By 6 am, major roads leading to Jantar Mantar, including Parliament Street, Ashoka Road, Minto Road, Mandi House, Kasturba Gandhi Road and Barakhamba Road, were largely deserted. Checkpoints were positioned at roughly 200-metre intervals, while riot-control vehicles and security personnel occupied key junctions across the central district.
More than 3,000 security personnel were deployed around Parliament Street alone, according to officers cited in the report. Barricades were arranged in two to three layers, with around 100 personnel positioned at each layer. Police restricted traffic movement, allowing no more than two or three vehicles on the road at a time in some areas.
The operation also included a large detention and transport plan. Around 20 orange Delhi Transport Corporation buses and larger private buses were positioned between Parliament Street and Jantar Mantar to move detained protesters to holding facilities. A police officer said authorities had arranged between 60 and 70 buses after estimating that up to 5,000 protesters could reach areas close to New Delhi. Additional buses were arranged elsewhere in Delhi, the officer said.
Police began detaining people before any major violence was reported. By 9 am, around 250 to 300 protesters had been detained near Connaught Place, according to a senior officer cited in the report. Police said some protesters had gathered overnight and were hiding in locations including public toilets and inside Bangla Sahib Gurdwara in an attempt to join the demonstration.
The scale of the restrictions was significantly greater than during the CJP’s July 20 Sansad Chalo march. On that occasion, barricades had been placed around Parliament Street, but traffic continued to move. Police detained some protesters, while reports of violence and a lathicharge emerged during the demonstration.
Saturday’s arrangements also affected press access and the flow of information. Police checked journalists’ identity cards inside the restricted New Delhi area and, in some cases, did not accept digital credentials. Reports later emerged that journalists from some digital media organisations had also been detained. Loudspeaker announcements asked media personnel not to engage with protesters or obstruct police operations.
Internet services were suspended, delaying the publication of visuals and reports from Connaught Place. Journalists gathered outside Parliament Street police station to find Wi-Fi access and file their reports. The restrictions added an information bottleneck to an operation already marked by limited road access and large-scale detentions.
More than 1,500 women Delhi Police personnel were deployed, alongside five additional companies of women paramilitary personnel, officers said. Women officers were seen checking identity documents and manning barricades along Parliament Street, Janpath and Ashoka Road. Police personnel also wore body cameras, with one officer saying the footage was intended to record interactions with protesters following allegations linked to violence during the earlier march.
CJP founder Abhijit Dipke was detained from an aircraft, according to the report. Video footage showed three women police personnel entering the plane to take him into custody. Other detentions involving women officers were reported at the ITO intersection.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta criticised the planned mobilisation on X, accusing the Opposition and CJP of disrupting public life. She questioned the impact on office workers, daily-wage labourers and patients travelling to hospitals, and said that holding Delhi hostage would not be permitted. The police operation continued around the Parliament Street and Jantar Mantar areas as authorities managed access, detentions and traffic restrictions across central Delhi.
