Around 11,000 additional personnel from the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) are being deployed in the Capital for the next few days ahead of a massive protest call by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Saturday, officials familiar with the matter said, as protests seeking the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar continued to escalate.
Meanwhile, Delhi Police has also stepped up preventive measures. Officers have been asked to heighten surveillance along these routes, with barricades to be installed at entry points. Of the 111 new companies, 85 will be from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the largest contingent, while the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) will send seven companies, the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) 10 and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) one company from Thursday. These forces, officials said, will bolster the around 5,000-strong Delhi Police force. The Delhi Police is also likely to increase deployment to around 15,000 personnel, officials said. Senior police officers have specifically asked SHOs to keep track of around 2,800 people identified through the Facial Recognition System (FRS) as having criminal antecedents. Unlike the July agitation, police have so far not granted permission for the October 10 protest, officials said.
The CJP, following Friday’s protest in Mumbai, has called for a “Delhi Chalo” protest starting October 10. Station house officers (SHOs) have been directed to monitor people with criminal antecedents, track buses headed towards the New Delhi district and engage educational institutions and paying guest (PG) accommodation owners to discourage students from joining the demonstration, officials aware of the directions said. Protesters could potentially enter Delhi through three main routes, including the eastern and Shahdara borders with Uttar Pradesh and from the southwest, particularly the Rajasthan side, according to police. “The idea is to know who is moving towards the protest site and from where,” a police officer said, requesting anonymity.
CJP spokesperson Saurav Das told reporters on Wednesday that the organisation had informed the police about the protest.
