A massive security clampdown was witnessed across central Delhi as Delhi Police deployed heavy barricading, checkpoints, and paramilitary forces to block demonstration attempts. Protesting students and independent demonstrators seeking to register their dissent against the SIR exercise and demanding the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar managed to breach cordons around Pandit Pant Marg, Jantar Mantar, and Connaught Place. Visuals showed multiple students being detained and taken away in buses after breaking barricade layers. Security checks at entry points from Noida, Ghaziabad, and Gurgaon, alongside metro closures and vehicular curbs, brought movement in New Delhi to a halt.
In Connaught Place, shops, eateries, and cafes remained shut with shutters down while police and paramilitary units guarded the area. The security operation was launched following a protest call by political and student groups. Key leaders were detained by the Delhi Police directly from inside an aircraft upon arriving in the national capital from Mumbai and were shifted to an undisclosed location as a precautionary measure.
Unprecedented restrictions gripped parts of the city, with numerous metro stations shut, trains originating or terminating at New Delhi railway station cancelled, and internet services suspended within a designated radius. Section 163 of the BNSS was invoked, barricading access to Jantar Mantar and Connaught Place. Traffic movement was halted within a four-kilometre radius around Kartavya Path, while thorough checks were enforced across major border checkpoints.
Smaller gatherings subsequently emerged near Hanuman Mandir, Minto Bridge, and outside the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters. Members of various student and leftist organisations, alongside elderly citizens protesting the loss of their voting rights, clashed briefly with police personnel before being removed in detention buses. Senior advocates had earlier raised concerns before the judiciary regarding the extensive metro closures and restrictions on public movement.
While the leadership remained under preventive detention, party functionaries reiterated their pledge to continue questioning the Election Commission regarding the electoral roll controversy. Security forces, including the Central Reserve Police Force and the Central Industrial Security Force, maintained high alert across airport terminals and sensitive districts as authorities worked to restore normalcy across the capital.