On October 2, opposition parties, student groups and activists attempted to protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, demanding his resignation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and voter deletions. Delhi Police denied permission, sealed the area, and detained over 700 people, including AAP leaders. Protests continued on October 3, with around 150 more detained; organisers have called another Jantar Mantar protest for October 10.
In the above context, a video has gone viral on social media in which a CRPF jawan is seen lathi-charging a group of protesters. The video is shared with a caption claiming that it captures police action against demonstrators at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar during the ‘Citizens March’ demanding the resignation of the CEC.
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “The video is shared with a caption claiming that it captures police action against demonstrators at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar during the ‘Citizens March’ demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.”
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The video is from the July 2026 NEET paper leak protests.
On a Google reverse image search, we found that the same video was shared by a YouTube channel on July 25. However, there were no captions mentioned. However, the video predates the protest against the Chief Election Commissioner. Thus, we can ascertain that the viral video is old.
We further found that a hyperlocal news channel also shared the viral video on its Facebook page on July 21. The video was shared with a caption suggesting that it shows Delhi beating students during the CJP protest.
We further found that the video was also shared by an X account, Gen-Z of India, on August 2, with a caption that reads. “Who Ordered 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗵𝗶 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲? Clip 19 Amit Shah Must Resign”
We were not able to find the exact source of the video, since the video predates the recent protest. We can ascertain that it is old.
What actually happened in July?
The CJP’s sit-in at Jantar Mantar saw significant escalation, particularly around July 20, when a ‘Parliament March’ was organised. The then education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, was asked to resign after the NEET-UG 2026 paper-leak controversy. Violent clashes broke out between protesters and police, with tear gas shells fired and lathi charges carried out.
On July 25, Pradhan announced his resignation and submitted it to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing student welfare and national interest. President Droupadi Murmu accepted it with immediate effect, and Pralhad Joshi received additional charge of the Education Ministry.
