The Delhi Police Crime Branch has registered a fresh FIR to investigate violence, alleged attacks on police personnel and damage to public property during the Cockroach Janta Party’s protest in the capital on 20 July, according to Live Hindustan – NCR. The investigation will examine whether the violence was part of a pre-planned conspiracy and identify those allegedly responsible.
Police sources cited in the report said the Crime Branch will investigate the sequence of events surrounding the protest, including the possible involvement of people with criminal backgrounds. The inquiry will also examine whether criminal elements joined the protest after the CJP called for a march towards Parliament.
The case comes after clashes during the protest in which police personnel were allegedly attacked and police vehicles were damaged. Public property was also reportedly vandalised. The new FIR gives the Crime Branch responsibility for examining the broader circumstances behind the violence rather than limiting the inquiry to individual incidents at the protest site.
A key part of the investigation will be the review of 2,873 people whom police identified through a facial recognition system during the demonstration. The report said police will examine their possible role in the violence, while also noting that the system’s accuracy is estimated by the police to be about 50 per cent.
That qualification is significant for the investigation because identification through a facial recognition system does not by itself establish a person’s participation in an offence. The police inquiry, as described in the report, will have to determine whether those identified were present at relevant locations and whether there is other evidence linking them to violence, damage or attacks on public officials.
The FIR has been registered as the CJP prepares for another proposed demonstration at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on 10 October. The party has announced the protest over what it describes as irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, process and is seeking the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
A police officer cited in the report said permission had not been granted for any protest in Delhi so far. The reported denial comes against the backdrop of the earlier protest-related violence and the Crime Branch investigation, placing the question of permission, crowd control and accountability at the centre of the immediate public-order response.
The police investigation is expected to establish the identities of those allegedly involved, determine whether the violence was planned and assess the role of people identified through the facial recognition process. The next formal developments will depend on the Crime Branch’s investigation and the decision on permission for the proposed Jantar Mantar demonstration.
