Delhi Police have registered four FIRs in connection with the INDIA bloc’s protest held on Monday, citing alleged violation of prohibitory orders in the area. The cases relate to the breaking of barricades and defacement of roads. Two FIRs were filed at Tilak Marg police station, with one each at Mandir Marg and Barakhamba Road stations.
Separately, four additional FIRs have been registered over an alleged disinformation campaign. Investigators suspect that social media handles based in Pakistan attempted to exploit the protests to spread anti-India narratives and disrupt communal harmony. Police have written to social media platforms seeking the removal of around 500 pieces of objectionable and misleading content. More than 100 suspicious accounts, several believed to be operating from across the border, are under scrutiny.
Intelligence and police assessments indicate that some of these accounts circulated old or edited videos of past riots and violence, falsely presenting them as footage from the recent Delhi demonstrations. Fake accounts were also created in the names of Indian youths to give the content an appearance of domestic origin. On October 10, certain handles claimed widespread violence during the protests, with one asserting that the Army had been deployed and markets shut down. Police clarified that the video in question was out of context and unrelated to current events.
Regarding the march itself, prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita were in force at the time, rendering the gathering unauthorised. Led by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, senior INDIA bloc leaders and supporters assembled at Barakhamba Road and proceeded towards the Supreme Court, where a petition was filed. Thousands gathered between Connaught Place and the Supreme Court, carrying flags of various organisations and raising slogans demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and a halt to the SIR process.
On Bhagwan Das Road, some participants climbed onto parked police vehicles and buses. Security personnel, numbering more than 10,000 in and around New Delhi, directed supporters to one side amid pushing and jostling.
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