LIVE: NDMC shuts CJP’s protest venue, Connaught Place Central Park, on Oct 16-17
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Delhi’s Connaught Place Central Park has been shut to the public for two days, on October 16 and 17, ahead of the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) planned ‘Lehra do Tiranga’ march on Friday.
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), in a notice issued on Thursday, cited “administrative reasons” for the closure. The NDMC notice stated, “It is hereby informed that the Central Park, Connaught Place, shall remain closed for general public on 16th October 2026 & 17th October 2026, due to administrative reasons.”
Issued by the NDMC director, the notice said the park would reopen to the public after the two-day closure.
The closure was announced hours after the Delhi High Court declined to restrain the CJP and Dipke from holding the protest. The court recorded an assurance from the Delhi Police that it would take all possible measures, in accordance with the law, to regulate the gathering and maintain order.
The court was hearing a petition filed by a street vendor at Palika Bazar, who argued that the proposed demonstration could disrupt business in Connaught Place and hurt the livelihoods of traders and vendors, especially during the festive season.
The case has been listed for further hearing on November 3.
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Kerala Police registers zero FIR over alleged assault on NSUI activist in Delhi
Kerala Police on Thursday registered a zero FIR over the alleged assault on NSUI activist Athira Vijayan in Delhi during a protest against CEC Gyanesh Kumar and the SIR exercise, officials said.
The zero FIR was registered at the Museum police station here following a complaint by Vijayan to the state police chief.
A Zero FIR is a case that is registered at any police station irrespective of the place where the crime occurred.
According to the FIR, the incident occurred at Connaught Place in Delhi on October 13 during a flash protest by the National Students Union of India (NSUI).
The FIR invokes various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) relating to assault on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty, attempt to disrobe a woman, voluntarily causing hurt, wrongful restraint, verbal abuse, and criminal intimidation.
The FIR does not name any police officials or others as accused, officials said.
As per the FIR, the complainant and other activists were transported by bus to Connaught Place, where they were forcibly dragged out onto the public street. The complaint also alleges that attempts were made to tear the complainant's clothes.
Subsequently, near the Connaught Place police station, the accused assaulted her by striking her on the face and forcibly holding her arms behind her back. They also kicked her in the private parts and lower abdomen and attempted to snatch her phone, the FIR claimed.
"When she resisted this, they tightened the shawl she was wearing around her neck and threatened to kill her. By acting in concert, actively encouraging, and assisting one another, the accused caused injury to the complainant's neck through constriction with a shawl—necessitating hospital treatment—and inflicted humiliation and mental distress upon her, thereby committing the offences under the aforementioned sections," the FIR further claimed.
Police said that under the provisions of the BNS, a case can be registered anywhere in the country, regardless of where the incident occurred.
The investigation will, however, be transferred to the concerned police station in Delhi, where the incident took place, officials said.
The complainant had earlier alleged that the Delhi Police did not register a case despite her complaint.
The registration of the case in Keralam comes amid the state Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau launching a probe into corruption allegations in the KSTP road work project and the death of a Malaysian contractor associated with it in 2006, when incumbent CEC Gyanesh Kumar was serving as the PWD secretary in the state.
