NEET protest march turns violent, tear gas and lathi charge in Capital

They came in the rain. They came from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Assam, and Madhya Pradesh. They came because a girl named Riya Thapa had died by suicide, because the NEET paper had leaked, and because nobody in government had resigned. They gathered at Jantar Mantar from Sunday night, slept on the wet ground, and on Monday morning, they tried to walk to Parliament. Delhi Police, which had imposed Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita across the New Delhi district, was waiting for them.

What followed was the most charged day of political protest in the capital in years. The Cockroach Janata Party’s Chalo Sansad march was met with lathi charges near Parliament Street, tear gas shells near Shastri Bhawan and Raisina Road, and mass detentions across central Delhi. Internet services were suspended in parts of the city. Several entry gates to Parliament were shut. By 4 pm, repeated tear gas shelling pushed protesters past a breaking point, and the demonstration turned violent: stone-pelting began, and police vehicles were smashed near Rajiv Chowk. By evening, Jantar Mantar was completely empty, with protesters regrouped and gathered around Connaught Place and Rajiv Chowk. Lok Sabha was adjourned multiple times on the first day of the Monsoon Session.

The CJP launched its sit-in at Jantar Mantar on June 6, over 40 days ago. The demand throughout has been singular: the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged irregularities in NEET-UG 2026. The government did not engage until Monday, the day of the march, when CJP spokesperson Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were called in to meet BJP president JP Nadda. Das posted from outside the meeting: “Our demands are clear. The youth have gathered in huge numbers.” After the meeting, he said Nadda had assured him he would speak internally, but that no commitments had been made.

The man who had held the sit-in together was not on the ground. Sonam Wangchuk, removed from Jantar Mantar by Delhi Police on July 18 during his hunger strike and taken to Safdarjung Hospital, wrote to the hospital management on Monday morning in his own hand. The note said: “This is to state that I am feeling very fine today and my health parameters are also showing as quite normal. Hence, I kindly request that you allow me to leave the hospital, even if temporarily, so that I can join the march to Parliament. I shall be most grateful.” He was not allowed to leave. The Delhi High Court, hearing a plea filed by his wife Gitanjali Angmo, directed the hospital to place his pathological reports on record.

The father of Riya Thapa, the NEET student who died by suicide, was present at Jantar Mantar and persuaded CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, who had himself been on hunger strike, to end his fast and lead the march. Dipke, addressing supporters earlier in the day, said: “This government is not satisfied with taking the lives of 20 NEET students. They are now baying for the blood of others.”

Protesters attempting to reach Jantar Mantar from Mandi House Metro Station were beaten with sticks and batons. Security forces deployed tear gas near Shastri Bhawan after protesters pushed against barricades. By 4 pm, with tear gas deployed repeatedly at multiple points, the situation at Rajiv Chowk escalated into stone-pelting and the smashing of police vehicles, marking the most violent turn in what had been a largely peaceful 40-day protest movement.

The CJP posted as the internet was cut in parts of the city: “You can shut down the internet, but how will you close the eyes and ears of the protesters who will see and report?” Delhi Police Additional CP Rajeev Ranjan appealed for calm: “Delhi Police appeals to all protesters to maintain peace, exercise restraint, and cooperate with the police.”

By nightfall, the geography of the protest had shifted entirely. Jantar Mantar, where this movement had lived for 44 days, stood empty. The crowds had moved to Rajiv Chowk and the lanes around Connaught Place. The gates of Parliament remained shut. The Monsoon Session had begun with adjourned sittings and a city on edge.