India

Delhi Police and Security Forces Block CJP and Opposition Plans Ahead of July 20

By Raj Shekhar Jha

Delhi Police and security forces stopped plans by the CJP and opposition parties to create a protest site in central Delhi, according to sources. Intelligence agencies had warned of possible violence, noting that organisers intended to turn several sites in central Delhi into mini Jantar Mantar by placing students and youth in front. The July 20 violence had shown CJP planners were adept at springing surprises, keeping a tent pitched at Jantar Mantar for 20 days despite an undertaking to stay for a single day, while using burner phones, encrypted platforms like Signal and peer‑to‑peer messaging apps. A government functionary said that trusting them and allowing them to gather and camp at Jantar Mantar helped them attract all kinds of elements, including impressionable youth and students, and that this time the authorities were determined not to fall into the same trap. BJP defence minister Rajnath Singh said, “Dissent is allowed in democracy, but anarchy has no space,” adding that conspiracies to destroy the credibility of constitutional institutions could never be accepted. The security establishment credited a larger police perimeter with preventing crowds from entering Jantar Mantar and keeping the core Lutyens zone out of major trouble. Police detained CJP and opposition supporters across Delhi, preventing smaller groups from merging and building the numbers needed to breach barricades. Real‑time intelligence from mesh messaging apps helped cops track protesters’ locations, group sizes and movements, allowing command centres to redirect forces and stay ahead on the ground. Raj Shekhar Jha is a journalist for the Times of India with over a decade of experience in reporting on national security, terrorism, crime and prisons.