Delhi Police has registered four cases, including one related to a larger criminal conspiracy, and is in the process of filing two more cases in connection with the violence during the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) march to Parliament on Monday, officers familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
One case concerns the unauthorized overflight of a drone in New Delhi, a high-security area, when aerial activity is severely restricted during a Parliament session. Another relates to an alleged plot to incite violence. Investigators claimed to have collected “significant evidence” during the investigation, although they declined to share details, citing the ongoing investigation.
Two other cases were registered for obstructing public officials from performing their duties, assaulting police officers, and damaging government property during the protests.
Two more cases are likely to be registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Party for assault, including a case of taking the law into their own hands, police said. Cases were registered at Connaught Place, Parliament Street and Cartavia Bath police stations.
First information reports also cite the Arms Act in the case of alleged possession of prohibited weapons. The police alleged that the protesters gathered illegally, disrupted public order, obstructed government officials, indulged in violence, and caused damage to public property.
No arrests have been made. Police said further legal action will be taken based on the evidence collected during the investigation.
Tens of thousands of agitators marched to Parliament in central Delhi on Monday demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over repeated leaks of papers and irregularities in examinations, after a 23-day hunger strike at Jantar Mantar. They braved police batons and tear gas.
Protesters brought down barricades to advance deeper and marched to Parliament, just over a kilometer from Jantar Mantar, prompting the Central Industrial Security Force to close the doors of the Parliament complex for the first time since the 2001 attack. Commandos took up positions with automatic weapons, sparking controversy.
Delhi Police said the planned but unauthorized march to Parliament was handled “professionally”, but images showed security personnel in full riot gear beating unarmed young protesters.
The RJD was formed after the remarks of Chief Justice of India, Surya Kant, in which he referred to some people as “cockroaches” and “parasites”. He emphasized that his statements were not directed at the country’s youth but at individuals who entered professions such as law and media using “fake and fictitious degrees.”
The CJP garnered millions of followers on social media before it began a sit-in protest on June 6 demanding Pradhan’s resignation over repeated leaks of question papers. A hunger strike and forced deportation of activist Sonam Wangchuk last week galvanized the movement.
Crowds swelled over the weekend, and by Monday morning, students, first-time agitators and young professionals braved heavy police barriers to join the protest.
Officials admitted that they underestimated the strength of the gathering and estimated it at about 35,000 people. Protesters and eyewitnesses said the number was at least double that. Nearly 2,000 police personnel and 20 companies of paramilitary forces were deployed.
Delhi Police said 118 personnel, including senior officers, were injured. The exact number of injured demonstrators was not immediately known. Reports stated that the wounded may be in the hundreds. Officials at a government hospital confirmed that at least 100 demonstrators were being treated for injuries. Police estimated the number of injured protesters at 60.
