New Delhi [India], July 18 : Delhi Police executed a meticulously planned early morning operation on Saturday to remove climate activist Sonam Wangchuk from the Jantar Mantar protest site after a strategy was finalised at a high-level meeting following the new Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar assuming charge, top police sources said.
According to sources, senior officers decided to carry out the operation at daybreak when the number of protesters was at its lowest. Police also identified a brief window when Wangchuk's close aide, Abhijit Dipke, had stepped away from the protest site, leaving the stage without its primary coordinator.
Around 30-35 personnel from the New Delhi district's Special Staff and local police, dressed in plain clothes, quietly entered the barricaded protest area.
Sources said the operation was conducted on a strict need-to-know basis. The complete strategy was known only to a handful of senior officers. Inspectors and most personnel deployed on the ground were only instructed to report to the protest site and remain in position, without being briefed about the full operational plan in advance.
Police personnel then surrounded Wangchuk's bed and covered it with large white sheets from all four sides before escorting him away from the stage to avoid crowd mobilisation and minimise commotion, the sources said.
The operation was executed in three layers. Plainclothes officers first secured the stage and removed Wangchuk. In the second layer, CRPF and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel held back protesters outside the barricaded area to prevent any confrontation. In the third layer, senior Delhi Police officers monitored the entire operation from a control point near the ambulance and police vehicles.
Once Wangchuk was placed inside the ambulance, traffic police ensured a clear route, allowing the vehicle to proceed without interruption to Safdarjung Hospital.
Shortly after the operation concluded, Abhijit Dipke returned to the protest site and alleged that Wangchuk had been removed in his absence. He also announced that he would continue the protest by observing a hunger strike.
Delhi Police, however, maintained that the exercise was carried out peacefully with maximum restraint and appealed to the protesters at Jantar Mantar to vacate the site peacefully at the earliest.
According to the DCP, New Delhi, "As per orders of Hon'ble High Court and on expert medical advise due to the deteriorating health condition of Sh. Sonam Wangchuk, he has been shifted to the hospital for essential medical care. While complying with the orders of Hon'ble High Court the protestors tried to create obstruction, in which slight commotion ensued, however police took maximum restrain and undertook the exercise safely. We request the protestors at Jantar Mantar to peacefully vacate the place at the earliest."