A scrutiny carried out by the Delhi Police of people present at and around the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar has found that a large number of those in the crowd had previous criminal records. According to media reports, police verified the backgrounds of 2,873 individuals and found that all of them had criminal antecedents. Of these, 989 had previously been involved in serious criminal cases, including murder, attempted murder, robbery, rape, kidnapping, crimes against women, illegal arms offences, and narcotics-related offences.
The verification was conducted after violence broke out during the CJP‘s “Chalo Sansad” protest on 20th July. According to the police, more than 65 protesters and over 200 police personnel were injured during the clashes. Protesters, however, alleged that security forces used pellet guns against peaceful demonstrators.
🚨 2,873 persons with criminal antecedents, including cases of murder, rape, abduction, POCSO & more identified using facial recognition from Jantar Mantar protest & Parliament march, Delhi Police tells @NDTV’s @mukeshmukeshs.
— Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) July 27, 2026
Details: pic.twitter.com/kw6WxcfCko
Murder, robbery, rape and Arms Act cases among those identified
The scrutiny found that 101 people had previously been booked in murder cases, while 62 had records in attempt-to-murder cases. According to the police, 42 of those linked to murder cases had been involved in two or more criminal cases, while 12 had criminal histories involving 10 or more cases.
Similarly, 25 of the 62 people linked to attempt-to-murder cases had multiple criminal cases against them.
The verification also revealed that 284 individuals had previously figured in robbery and dacoity cases. Of these, 155 had been booked in two or more criminal cases, while 31 had histories involving at least 10 cases, indicating repeated involvement in serious offences.
Police also found that 61 people had been involved in rape cases. Among them, eight had been booked in two or more criminal cases. In addition, six people had cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, while 25 had been booked for offences related to molestation or outraging the modesty of women. Six of those accused in crimes against women had multiple criminal cases, officials said.
Police say one-third of those screened had criminal backgrounds
According to officials, the exercise was launched after large crowds gathered at and around the protest venue and was aimed at identifying people with previous criminal involvement and understanding the nature of those participating in or moving around the protest site.
“The findings form part of a larger scrutiny exercise carried out through police databases and dossier verification systems,” a senior police official told PTI. Of the 2,873 people whose backgrounds were checked, 989 were found to have criminal records, meaning that more than one in every three people screened had previously been booked in criminal cases.
Police said the verification relied on existing criminal databases and dossier records maintained by different district police units and other law enforcement agencies.
Dossier verification carried out across Delhi districts
The scrutiny also identified 229 people with previous cases under the Arms Act, making it one of the largest categories found during the exercise. Another 135 people had criminal records in snatching cases, 19 had kidnapping cases, and 67 had previously been booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Among those linked to narcotics offences, nine had multiple criminal cases.
Police said dossier verification was also carried out by matching the criminal histories of identified individuals with records maintained by various district police units. One such dossier reportedly showed an accused facing multiple FIRs registered in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh under different provisions, including the Arms Act.
According to district-wise data, the highest number of dossiers came from West district with 26, followed by Northeast (23), South (22), Central (21), Southwest (18), Southeast (17), East (15), New Delhi (14), Shahdara (12), Outer North (11), North and Rohini (9 each), Northwest (8), Outer (6), and Dwarka (5). In total, 216 dossiers were processed during the verification exercise.
Police added that the findings will now form part of the overall investigation into the 20th July violence and help identify individuals who require further verification.
