New Delhi: Fresh clashes took place between the police and protesters part of Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) march in New Delhi Wednesday afternoon and night, police sources said, adding that five personnel, including two ACP-level officers, were injured.
The CJP, on the other hand, alleged Thursday that “goons were being sent from outside to disrupt the protest” and that the protesters at Jantar Mantar were brutally lathi-charged by the police. The claim was, however, denied by a Delhi Police officer.
The CJP had Monday called for a ‘Sansad Chalo’ march to Parliament that resulted in clashes and police crackdown. More than 100 protesters and over 118 police personnel have been reported injured since. For weeks now, the CJP has been demanding the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over exam paper leaks.
No protesters sustained injuries Wednesday, according to police sources.
The first clash Wednesday, sources said, took place around 4.40 pm, in which ACP (Punjabi Bagh) Jai Prakash sustained an injury to his forehead while he was on duty at Jantar Mantar and the “protesters resorted to stone-pelting”.
“One of the stones hit the ACP on his forehead. He has been shifted to hospital for medical treatment,” a police officer told ThePrint, adding: “The protesters continued shouting slogans and creating disturbance on the road throughout the day.”
Some protesters attempted to move towards Parliament Street, the officer said.
“We tried to stop them by placing barricades on Parliament Street, forming a human chain, and persuading them not to proceed further. However, some of them suddenly started throwing plastic water bottles and stones. One of the stones hit the ACP on the forehead,” he explained.
The second clash Wednesday, a senior police officer said, took place around 8.30 pm, near Tolstoy Marg in Connaught Place when “some miscreants attacked the police with stones and bottles”.
It left ACP (Connaught Place) Vivek Bhagat injured, police sources said, adding that senior officers took him to RML Hospital. “The situation was tense for a few minutes, but normalcy was restored,” added the senior officer.
Vivek Bhagat, ACP (Connaught Place), was brought to the Emergency Department of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital following the reported incident of stone pelting last night near Jantar Mantar, hospital sources from RML confirmed. “On examination, he was found to have multiple bruises over both the upper and lower limbs, along with the shoulder, and a swelling over the parieto-occipital region (back of the head). The patient also gave a history of ear bleeding and vomiting,” said one source.
Bhagat was evaluated by the treating team in the Department of Surgery and provided the necessary medical care, it is learnt. Subsequently, he expressed his desire to continue further treatment at AIIMS, New Delhi, and was discharged from RML Hospital on request after the required medical evaluation, sources said.
An FIR has been by the police against unidentified persons.
Protesters ThePrint spoke to said that on both instances Wednesday, they were lathi-charged by the police but the situation normalised soon. “Bottles were thrown, and protesters were lathi-charged,” one of the protesters said.
CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka took to X early Thursday, and said that on Wednesday, “Delhi Police cracked down heavily on protesters outside Jantar Mantar”.
Yesterday, Delhi Police cracked down heavily on protesters outside Jantar Mantar.
Internet was shut down. People brutally lathicharged.
And yet, this is today morning at Jantar Mantar. pic.twitter.com/wKOyuS21Ei
— Ashutosh Ranka (@AshutoshRanka) July 23, 2026
Even CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke told reporters that protesters were beaten up by the police. “They were lathi-charged,” he said, alleging that “people are being sent from outside to deliberately disrupt the protest”.
“We have been sitting here for a month. No such incident has happened in a month. But now, as this protest has grown, goons are being sent from outside by the BJP to deliberately incite people. These are the people from the BJP who are pelting stones. The police bring trucks of stones here. BJP goons come, they pelt stones and then defame the people of CJP,” he alleged.
Multiple protests are breaking out across the country, including in cities like Mumbai, Patna, Bengaluru, and Lucknow.
This is an updated version of the report
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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