Security has been tightened around Delhi’s Jantar Mantar ahead of a protest announced by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) for October 10, even as the organisation has not received permission from Delhi Police, according to a report by Live Hindustan – NCR. The development follows allegations by CJP co-convener Ashutosh Ranka that groups he described as right-wing extremists had been mobilised to attack peaceful demonstrators.
Ranka said in a post on X that the protest would remain peaceful and that CJP demonstrators would not raise their hands. He also warned that violence against people would not be tolerated. His allegations about the mobilisation of outside groups were not independently established in the supplied report.
Ranka directly addressed Union Home Minister Amit Shah, saying that the matter would not remain limited to the Delhi Police and that the country was watching. The statement was issued before the planned gathering at Jantar Mantar, a designated protest venue in central Delhi that is routinely used for demonstrations and public campaigns.
The report said Delhi Police had not yet granted permission for the October 10 protest. It also said security had been increased in the area because of concerns about a possible breach of peace. The supplied material does not include a police statement explaining the conditions for permission, the size of the planned deployment or the specific restrictions that may apply to the protest.
Citing a Times of India report, Live Hindustan – NCR said Delhi Police had instructed station house officers to monitor about 2,800 people identified through a facial-recognition system. The instruction was especially focused on people with criminal records, with officers asked to determine whether any such individuals were moving towards the New Delhi district. The report did not provide further details about the system, the legal basis for the monitoring or how the identified individuals had been classified.
The proposed protest also follows violence reported during a CJP demonstration on July 20. According to a report by the Press Trust of India, the Delhi Police Crime Branch has registered a case to investigate who was behind that violence. The investigation is expected to examine the identities of those allegedly responsible and whether the incident was the result of a pre-planned conspiracy, the report said.
The competing claims place the October 10 gathering within a wider public-order challenge for central Delhi: authorities must regulate access to a high-security protest zone while protecting the right to peaceful assembly and preventing violence. For now, the immediate milestones are the police decision on permission, security arrangements around Jantar Mantar and the progress of the Crime Branch investigation into the July 20 incident.
