Ahead of a 'Lehra Do Tiranga' rally that Cockroach Janata Party founder Abhijeet Dipke announced for Friday, Delhi Police were reported to be preparing measures to seal off access routes leading into Central Park at Connaught Place. Pedestrians and vehicles retained access to both the inner and outer circles of Connaught Place throughout the period.
Officers carrying notice of the prohibitory measures active under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita called at the New Delhi address where Dipke had been accommodated — a property linked to NCP-SP spokesperson Anish Gawande — to formally convey those restrictions to him. Members of the group pressed him to abandon the planned demonstration and keep the situation peaceful and orderly. The officer on the scene indicated that the team withdrew once Dipke had been handed a formal notice and had put his signature to it.
Video captured by CJP and broadcast live showed the interaction between Dipke and Delhi Police officers at the location. In the audio captured on video, Dipke put a question to an officer about why displaying the Tricolour would be treated as a violation of the law, noting that no sound equipment was being brought, no protest had been declared, and the intention was simply to unfurl the flag. Dipke posed the question of whether displaying the Tricolour was against the law, to which the officer replied that the national flag stood as a symbol of the country's honour.
At a moment when relations with authorities had grown strained — following the detention of Citizens for Justice and Peace representatives Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka over their appearance at Jantar Mantar — Dipke put forward a proposal for a 'Lehra Do Tiranga' procession to Central Park. Two individuals were detained by Delhi Police on Tuesday after climbing over the locked gates of Jantar Mantar to gain entry — an action that followed by a single day the venue losing its formally recognised status as a designated protest site. A five-day period of judicial custody followed for the individuals involved.
Travelling from Maharashtra to Delhi on Wednesday, Dipke put forward plans for a gathering framed as a demonstration over two matters: the removal of Jantar Mantar's designated status and the allegations surrounding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Upwards of 6,000 officers were set to be stationed across Connaught Place and the surrounding streets of central Delhi that Friday. Roughly 26,000 Central Armed Police Forces personnel were already positioned across the capital, a deployment that came alongside the CJP's call for demonstrations seeking the CEC's removal from office. Roughly 32,000 personnel were anticipated to be stationed across central Delhi as part of the joint deployment.
On 10 October, roughly 5,000 officers fanned out across the New Delhi district — a stretch taking in Connaught Place, Rajiv Chowk, Central Park, Jantar Mantar, Palika Bazaar, and the metro stations adjoining those areas — to maintain a presence during the demonstration.
