India

Delhi Police Deploy 35,000 Personnel and Multiple Blockades Ahead of Protest at Jantar Mantar

By Abhay

New Delhi – In preparation for the protest against SIR and CEC Gyanesh Kumar, Delhi Police has outlined a comprehensive security plan that includes road blockades, preventive detentions, and movement restrictions. The plan involves 600 buses and 25 cranes to aid detentions, and will affect metro services, markets and transport. More than 30 blockade points and checkpoints have been identified across the city to prevent protesters from reaching Jantar Mantar. Each point will be manned by a DCP‑rank officer and district personnel; overall, nearly 35,000 security personnel, including Delhi Police and paramilitary forces, will be deployed. Women police officers from outside the city, including 25 from Uttar Pradesh, have also been requisitioned.

Three layers of barricades will close roads leading to Jantar Mantar. Police have mapped locations where violence, stone‑petting or clashes occurred during the July 20 protest, such as Ashoka Road, Tolstoy Marg and Jantar Mantar Lane, and these stretches have been barricaded. The barricades are arranged in a zig‑zag pattern to slow any breach of the initial cordon.

Detention centres are being prepared at stadiums, community centres and police stations to accommodate protesters detained at borders and checkpoints. Leave for all ranks of Delhi Police has been cancelled from October 8 until further orders, and Central Armed Police Forces will assist with security and crowd control.

Social media surveillance is underway; three posts showing old violence have been flagged as recent incidents, and police fact‑checked 56 such posts during the previous protest. Hotels and PGs are under watch.

Traffic restrictions will apply to roads along the Delhi borders with Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, as well as those leading to Jantar Mantar and across New Delhi. Police are coordinating with cab aggregators to regulate movement, and several trains have reportedly been cancelled. Mobile internet services will be suspended within a 4‑km radius of Jantar Mantar.

Liquor shops across the city will be shut on October 9 and 10. Curbs are proposed for markets, offices, restaurants and other commercial establishments in Connaught Place. Market associations in Connaught Place, Sadar Bazar and parts of Karol Bagh and Chandni Chowk have confirmed closures on October 10; markets in Green Park, Sarojini Nagar and GK will remain open.

Metro services will be affected: 45 stations will have entry and exit gates closed from 9 pm on October 9, with reduced train frequency. The list of affected stations includes Rajiv Chowk, Janpath, Patel Chowk, Central Secretariat, New Delhi, Mandi House, Barakhamba Road, ITO, Supreme Court, Khan Market, Lok Kalyan Marg, Shivaji Stadium, Seva Teerth, Delhi Gate, Ramkrishna Ashram Marg, Jhandewalan North, Kashmere Gate, Vishwavidyalaya, GTB Nagar, Azadpur, Jahangirpuri, Majlis Park, Haiderpur Badli Mor, Rithala East, Shahdara, Welcome, Seelampur, Jafrabad, Maujpur, Yamuna Vihar, Khajuri, INA, Hauz Khas, Lajpat Nagar, Jangpura, Ashram, Jamia Millia Islamia, Hauz Khas, Karol Bagh, Chawri Bazar, Jama Masjid, Inderlok, Netaji Subhash Place, Rajendra Place, Indraprastha, Sarai Kale Khan, and Nizammuddin. The restrictions are expected to remain until 6 pm on October 10, following a Supreme Court direction for the Centre to reconsider sweeping curbs.