Delhi Police Identifies Nearly 2,900 People with Criminal Records at Jantar Mantar Protest Site

New Delhi, July 2026 : Delhi Police has identified 2,873 individuals with criminal antecedents who were present at the student protest site at Jantar Mantar between July 20 and July 25, raising concerns over possible attempts to disrupt law and order during the demonstrations.

According to senior police sources, the individuals were identified using the Facial Recognition System (FRS) along with other technical surveillance methods. The high-tech system, which uses high-resolution cameras installed at the entry and exit points of the protest venue as well as across the national capital, enabled authorities to match faces with the police database of known offenders.

Police officials said a significant number of those identified had previously been detected by FRS cameras in North-East Delhi, particularly in Seelampur, Chand Bagh and Jafrabad, as well as in parts of South-East Delhi, including Jamia Nagar, Shaheen Bagh and Okhla.

Investigators are now examining whether these individuals played any role in the violence that erupted at Jantar Mantar and other parts of New Delhi on July 20. According to officials, many of those identified have criminal records involving serious offences, including murder, sexual assault, offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, kidnapping, robbery and other violent crimes.

Police sources said that 989 of the identified individuals are suspected to have been involved in particularly serious criminal offences. Officials also noted that several of the alleged offenders were seen visiting the protest site repeatedly during the six-day period, further intensifying suspicions regarding their presence.

The Facial Recognition System is linked to the Delhi Police’s central database, which contains records of history-sheeters, absconders, habitual offenders and individuals classified as “Bad Characters” (BCs) by various police stations. Every image captured by the surveillance network is automatically cross-checked against this database to identify persons with criminal backgrounds.

Authorities said the surveillance infrastructure had been deployed to ensure that anti-social elements did not exploit the student protests to create disturbances or incite violence. The presence of a large number of individuals with criminal records has prompted investigators to examine whether they were deliberately mobilised to the protest site to disrupt public order.

Police sources are also probing the possibility that some of these individuals may have been influenced or coordinated by external elements, including social media networks allegedly operating from Pakistan that have been accused of spreading misinformation and attempting to inflame tensions in the national capital.

The investigation remains ongoing, with Delhi Police analysing surveillance footage, technical evidence and intelligence inputs to determine the exact role of those identified during the protests.

(The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)