From Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s house to Raj Niwas Marg to Rajpur Road, the area was replete with over 700 security personnel. Interestingly, at every barricade point, at least two officers were holding a camera to record the event.
‘Misinformation’ cases
An officer, on condition of anonymity, explained, “So many times, during protests, we are accused of brutality and we often do not have proof to show our side. This is a measure to prevent spreading of lies and misinformation,” he said.
Sources said that 700 officers included Delhi Police officers from six of 14 districts of the Capital, Central Reserve Police Force and Indo-Tibetan Border Police. Water cannons and teargas shells were in place as precautionary measure.
At 5 p.m., an officer announced, “They have started walking towards the barricade near Aruna Asif Ali Hospital”. A force of 50 officers immediately marched towards the barricade and stood there stretching a white rope.
As the procession proceeded, AAP leaders Sanjay Singh, Dilip Pandey and Atishi Marlena addressed the crowd of thousands after stopping their vehicle and standing on top of it.
Mr. Singh directly addressed Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Harendra Singh who was standing behind the barricades as “ bhai (brother)” and criticised, “Delhi Police CM or Deputy CM ke ghar chali jati hai pooch taach karne [Delhi Police goes to the house of CM and Deputy CM],” referring to the recent questioning of Mr. Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia by a team headed by Mr. Harendra over the alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash in February. To this, all the officers smiled sheepishly at the comment including Mr. Harendra.
As the protest concluded, many officers shared a similar thought. “We are all posted here for the last three days. All our regular work is being hampered because of this,” said an officer.
