Rahul Gandhi’s sudden sit-in surprised police, ‘arrangements were done for Vijay Chowk’

According to sources, intelligence agencies had informed multiple stakeholders, including the Delhi Police on Tuesday morning that Gandhi and senior Congress leaders, after attending the Parliament session, were likely to proceed to Vijay Chowk for a protest. Security arrangements were accordingly put in place at Vijay Chowk.

Police detain Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi, protesting with other Opposition leaders outside the PM’s residence at Lok Kalyan Marg on Tuesday. (Express Photo by Anil Sharma)

“Based on the input, arrangements were made at Vijay Chowk. However, in the afternoon, we received information that the leaders had gathered outside the Prime Minister’s residence,” a source said.

Officials said this was the second intelligence lapse in the last 48 hours, after agencies, including the Delhi Police Special Branch, failed to accurately assess the turnout at Jantar Mantar on Sunday and Monday.

“We were expecting a crowd of around 20,000-25,000, based on coordination with student organisations and some political parties. But the situation changed when protesters started arriving in large numbers, many of them entering the New Delhi district by Metro. By 10 am, the number of protesters had reached around 25,000-30,000,” a source said.

Security personnel detain Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra during a sit-in protest near the Prime Minister’s residence over alleged irregularities in the NEET examination, in New Delhi. (Express Photo by Abhinav Saha)

Another official said the agencies had also failed to anticipate the arrival of protesters from outside Delhi. “On Monday, a large number of people came from Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The Delhi Police and intelligence agencies had not expected such a turnout from outside the city,” the official said.

On Monday, the police had deployed nearly 2,000 personnel and 32 companies of paramilitary forces, besides putting up extensive barricades around Jantar Mantar. After the crowd swelled, 1,400 police personnel were called in from all 14 police districts. Later in the day, more personnel were called from other districts to manage the law and order situation.