Shops shut, streets cordoned off: High security for Delhi CM’s first event post attack

Two days after she was attacked, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta made her first public appearance at the market. She was attending the launch of Vastrika 2025 — an event organised by the Association of Wholesale Readymade Garment Dealers — under extremely tight security arrangements. Chaos erupted briefly when a man raised slogans; he was quickly detained.

Speaking at the event, the chief minister asked Gandhi Nagar MLA Arvinder Singh Lovely and East Delhi MP and Union MoS Harsh Malhotra — who were at the event — to prepare a proposal for a budget to redevelop the area.

Gupta said the government would allocate the required budget in line with developmental assessments, without hesitation. “Any budget required for the region’s development projects would be approved immediately.”

She also announced that the new route mapping of DTC’s electric buses would commence from Yamuna par (East Delhi).

How the venue was secured

In preparation for the event, an enhanced security cordon was in place: First, the main road of the market was completely shut for business and vehicles. Second, streets leading to the main venue were blocked using ropes and bamboo poles.

Police and paramilitary forces were tasked with separate roles: Delhi Police manned entry points to the streets leading into the venue, stationed at intervals of around 50-60 feet. Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel guarded the stage and the immediate event site. Women police personnel in plainclothes were also deployed across the venue.

The CRPF took charge of Gupta’s security from the Delhi Police late Wednesday night. It has accorded her ‘Z’ category security cover.

CRPF personnel on security detail (Personal Security Officers) were seen at multiple points. People were seen negotiating with security officers in an attempt to be on the stage.

When Gupta arrived, security around the stage was further tightened: Three CRPF PSOs were stationed at the stairway leading to the stage, along with two Delhi Police personnel.

Behind Gupta, her PSOs kept a strict vigil throughout the event. When it was her turn to speak at the lectern, her PSOs asked the event’s organiser and the moderator not to stand behind her and move a little further away.

In the middle of the event, a man started raising slogans at the periphery and was immediately detained by the police.

According to DCP (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam, the 60-year-old man, Praveen Sharma, raised slogans against Lovely.

“Sharma, who has a cable TV business in Ajeet Nagar and claims to be a worker (karyakarta) of the BJP for the last 40 years, raised slogans against the Gandhi Nagar MLA while he was addressing the public. Sharma was behind the barricades and was in a street… he was immediately apprehended and removed. No security of the VIP was breached at any point in time,” said the DCP.

He was released later.

In a statement released in the evening, Sharma, who claimed to be the former District President of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, Shahadra District, said he was angry because he was not called to the stage at the event. “I said something at the venue, which I now regret,” he said.

On Wednesday, Gupta was attacked during a Jan Sunwai (public hearing) meeting at her Civil Lines Camp Office, adjacent to her official residence, by a man from Gujarat’s Rajkot. The accused, Rajeshbhai Khimjibhai Sakriya, 41, allegedly entered the office posing as a complainant. He was later arrested.

Following the incident, sources had said the CRPF would be putting in place new measures for the CM’s security. These include regulating access to her residence, deployment of security gadgets, and providing her proximate protection through male and female PSOs when she attends a public meeting.