Delhi Police allegedly executed a pre-planned operation to remove Sonam Wangchuk from his hunger strike at Jantar Mantar.
According to The Indian Express, officers assembled under the pretext of a security drill before carrying out the removal.
The operation has prompted Opposition parties to demand that the Centre engage with Wangchuk and remove Dharmendra Pradhan.
Delhi Police assembled personnel nearly four hours before activist Sonam Wangchuk was removed from his hunger strike at Jantar Mantar early Saturday, initially telling them they were reporting for a security drill ahead of Parliament's Monsoon Session before allegedly carrying out a pre-planned "30-second" operation, according to sources cited by Indian Express. The sources said police later installed a phone jammer in the area and quickly placed a white curtain across the stage before Wangchuk was taken away.
Wangchuk has been on a hunger strike since June 28 as part of a protest organised by the Cockroach Janta Party, which is demanding broader reforms to the examination system and the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over repeated examination paper leaks. The removal came a day after the Union Ministry of Home Affairs replaced Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golchha with Anurag Kumar. Indian Express had earlier reported that Golchha's early exit was allegedly linked to the handling of the Cockroach Janta Party protest. Wangchuk's removal has since drawn support from several Opposition parties, which have demanded that the Centre engage with him and remove Pradhan.
Operation planned before dawn
The operation was set in motion on Friday night, when station house officers (SHOs) across the New Delhi district received a message around 11 pm directing them to report to Parliament Street police station by 3 am on Saturday with 10 police personnel each for what they were told was a security drill.
After assembling, the personnel were taken to Mandir Marg police station, where they were briefed on the plan to remove Wangchuk from the protest site.
"All of them reached and they were taken to Mandir Marg police station where they were briefed by the DCP (New Delhi district) Sachin Sharma about their exact plan. They were informed that they were there to execute a plan to remove Wangchuk from the protest site. They were informed they would have to wait for Dipke’s movement and remove Wangchuk within 30 seconds. They parked one ambulance near Kerala House in Jantar Mantar," a source said.
According to the sources, police installed a phone jammer in the area shortly before the operation. At around 6.30 am, officers quickly placed a white curtain across the protest stage and removed Wangchuk before anyone could see what was going on behind it.
Planning around Dipke's routine
After taking charge as Delhi Police Commissioner, Anurag Kumar met all special commissioners of police-rank officers to prepare a strategy for removing Wangchuk from the protest site, Indian Express reported.
According to the sources, officers studied the daily routine of members of the Cockroach Janta Party before identifying a brief window in the morning when party founder Abhijeet Dipke would leave for a nearby restroom.
"Initially, the routine of all the Cockroach Janta Party members was discussed. They learnt of a small window of some minutes in the morning when Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke went out to a nearby restroom. They decided to pick Wangchuk exactly at that time," a source said.
The report said the police also changed their planning after details of the response to the party's previous protest were leaked. During the earlier protest, all police personnel had reportedly been called to Delhi Police headquarters and briefed together before details of the plan were leaked. This time, according to the sources, only senior police officers were aware of the complete operation.
Wangchuk taken to hospital
According to the sources, the operation began once Dipke left the protest site for a nearby restroom at around 6.30 am.
"Within two minutes, he was picked up by four to five policemen and was taken in an ambulance to Safdarjung Hospital. The police then started removing all the protesters. At the same time, a police team stopped Dipke," the source added.
Several Opposition parties, including the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party and Shiv Sena (UBT), have extended support to Wangchuk, demanding that the Centre engage with him and remove Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan from office.
