2,873 criminals visited students’ protest venue at Jantar Mantar: Delhi Police

New Delhi, July 27 (AHN) As many as 2,873 people with criminal antecedents were present between July 20 and 25 during the students’ protest site at Jantar Mantar, a Delhi Police source said on Monday.

These criminals were identified using Facial Recognition System (FRS) and through technical means, said a senior police official.

Most of the identified persons were seen in FRS cameras in North-East Delhi, including Seelampur, Chand Bagh, Jafrabad and some colonies in South -East Delhi like Jamia Nagar, Shaheen Bagh and Okhla, the official said.

Police are investigating whether these men were involved in violence that broke out at Jantar Mantar and other areas in New Delhi on July 20, he said.

These criminals are involved in heinous crimes like sexual assault, murder and crime involving minors (POSCO), kidnapping, robbery, he said.

Some of these alleged criminals came back to the Cockroach Janata Party’s protest site repeatedly. These criminals have serious offences registered against them, the official said.

At least 989 “protestors”, out of the 2,873 protestors with criminal antecedents, are suspected to be involved in heinous offences, said the official.

The Delhi Police’s FRS is a high-tech system with its high-resolution cameras installed at the entry and exit points of the Jantar Mantar protest site and across the city, including the border entry points.

The cameras were installed with the intention of monitoring and preventing anti-social elements from fomenting trouble in the garb of protesting students, said the official.

The images captured by FRS cameras are relayed to the databank of Delhi Police that stores the antecedents of criminals, absconders, history-sheeters, and Bad Characters (BCs) – based on the records filed by various police stations.

The presence of these people with criminal antecedents has raised police suspicion that they had been purposefully sent or called to the venue to disturb law and order, or they were being handled by forces operating the Pakistan-based social media handles spreading misinformation about the security forces in the Capital, said a source.