New Delhi: A major security clampdown unfolded across central Delhi as police and paramilitary forces detained numerous left-wing activists, students, and farmer leaders near Parliament and Jantar Mantar. Demonstrators, identified as members of groups including the Students' Federation of India and the All India Students' Federation, attempted to breach barricades between Patel Chowk and Parliament Street as part of agitations demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Visuals from the area showed heavy deployments of Delhi Police, Central Reserve Police Force, and other central armed police forces executing sweeping detentions. Minor scuffles erupted during the demonstrations, with authorities reporting that stones were allegedly hurled near the old Parliament area outside the Press Trust of India building, leaving at least two police officers injured. Security forces loaded demonstrators into buses while relying on crowd-control measures rather than deploying water cannons or heavy lathi charges.
The widespread protests prompted extensive disruptions throughout the capital. Connaught Place experienced a near-total shutdown, with shops, restaurants, and offices closed, private vehicles restricted, and metro services affected. Security personnel heavily barricaded routes toward Jantar Mantar, utilizing drone surveillance and Border Security Force units to monitor crowds. Activists staged sit-in demonstrations, formed human chains, and chanted slogans at various locations, including outside the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters.
Additional detentions occurred when leaders from the Bharatiya Kisan Union Tikait faction arrived to support the demonstrations and were subsequently picked up by police in Connaught Place. In another incident, leadership figures associated with the protests were reportedly detained directly from an aircraft upon landing in New Delhi.
Amid the heightened tensions, small groups of demonstrators sought refuge inside the Bangla Sahib Gurudwara complex to evade police custody. Gurudwara committee members held discussions with officials to manage the situation while police and paramilitary personnel maintained a strict cordon outside the gates, warning that anyone stepping back onto public streets would face immediate detention.