Around 3,500 women police personnel from Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh led crowd-control operations across central Delhi on October 10, negotiating with protesters, manning barricades and carrying out detentions as demonstrators were stopped from marching towards Jantar Mantar.
According to Delhi Police data, the personnel were deployed along Ashoka Road, Jantar Mantar Road, Janpath, Connaught Place and Kharak Singh Marg. Buses carrying women police officers moved between the locations during the day as the force managed access to the protest zone and redirected citizens and demonstrators.
The deployment was visible from the morning, when women officers approached leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party aboard a flight from Mumbai before their detention. On the streets, women personnel took the lead in speaking to protesters, including young men, while male officers largely remained in the background.
Near the Connaught Place entrance to Jantar Mantar, an officer said the force had been instructed to ensure that protesters and journalists did not enter the restricted area, prevent crowding and persuade people to comply with the restrictions. The officer said the personnel had been assigned to speak to those attempting to reach the protest site and to stop them from entering the premises.
A separate standoff unfolded at Bangla Sahib Gurdwara, where protesters repeatedly sought shelter to avoid detention. Women police officers negotiated with demonstrators and the gurdwara management during the hours-long confrontation. Protesters later emerged carrying banners and raising slogans before being pursued by the police, while women protesters were escorted away by women personnel.
An officer stationed near gate number 4 of the gurdwara said women personnel had been instructed to remain firm but calm and persuade protesters to comply with the restrictions. The operation placed women officers at the centre of negotiations, access control and enforcement across several crowded public spaces in central Delhi.
The deployment followed allegations of misconduct during earlier protests. A woman journalist had accused Assistant Commissioner of Police Vivek Bhagat of sexual harassment and manhandling. Videos circulating online had also purportedly shown male police personnel assaulting women protesters. The supplied report did not provide details of any subsequent inquiry or official action concerning those allegations.
The central Delhi deployment affected access around Connaught Place, Jantar Mantar, major roads and the gurdwara complex. Police personnel continued to monitor movement towards the protest site, manage groups near barricades and carry out detentions as part of the restrictions in place on October 10.
