Delhi Police has begun analysing CCTV footage, drone visuals, mobile phone recordings and other digital evidence as it expands its investigation into the alleged violence during the ongoing CJP protest, a police source said on Thursday.
According to the source, multiple teams have been constituted to examine the footage and identify those allegedly involved in attacks on security personnel and damage to public property.
The move comes as police are trying to determine whether "outsiders" and "habitual offenders" infiltrated the demonstrations and contributed to "the violence that erupted during the agitation" -- beyond those already identified at the protest site.
According to the police source, intelligence inputs received before and during the protests indicated that thousands of people who were not "regular protesters" had reached the demonstration site, raising concerns that anti-social elements could exploit the gathering to trigger violence.
"Several teams have been formed, and teams are now examining whether such persons played a role in incidents of stone-pelting, attacks on security personnel and damage to public property," the source said.
"Multiple police teams are analysing footage captured by CCTV cameras, drones, mobile phones, media organisations and other electronic devices to identify those directly involved in violent acts.
Technical evidence, including digital footage, call detail analysis and other electronic records, is being matched with field intelligence and witness accounts to establish individual roles before further legal action is initiated," he added.
Police are also relying on facial comparison techniques "wherever legally permissible", movement patterns captured on surveillance cameras and digital timelines to reconstruct the sequence of events, the officer said.
"Every individual identified through one piece of evidence is being cross-verified with additional material before investigators attribute a specific role, ensuring that the cases are supported by corroborative evidence," he said.
Police are also focusing on several videos showing persons with masks or faces covered allegedly participating in stone-pelting and violent incidents.
According to the source, identifying such people has become one of the investigation's top priorities, with forensic and technical teams examining footage frame by frame to ascertain their identities and movements before, during and after the clashes.
Police are simultaneously probing an alleged pattern of attacks on police personnel during late evening and night hours.
Police said preliminary findings suggested that some alleged attacks occurred when duty shifts were changing and personnel were either reporting for deployment or returning after completing their assignments.
Officers are now connecting various incidents to determine whether the alleged attacks were coordinated and whether the same groups or people were involved at multiple locations.
Police said investigators are examining whether some assailants "deliberately targeted relatively isolated police personnel" during shift rotations instead of confronting larger deployment units.
This aspect of the probe is being investigated by analysing the timing of incidents, deployment records, wireless logs and CCTV footage from nearby locations.
The intelligence is also examining the movement of people arriving in the national capital during the protest period.
Police teams have intensified verification and checking exercises at major railway stations, inter-state bus terminals and other transport hubs to identify persons travelling to the protest venue and ascertain whether they have any criminal background or links to previous law and order cases, the source said.
Police officers said field units have been instructed to maintain close coordination with intelligence teams and local police stations while carrying out verification exercises.
Particular attention is being paid to suspicious movements, organised travel patterns and people whose presence at the protest site does not match the declared purpose of their visit, according to them.
Police further said intelligence inputs indicated that a number of people from different parts of Delhi, including "areas known for criminal activity", had also reached the protest site during the agitation.
Police are scrutinising the background of such people and comparing their details with existing criminal records to determine whether any organised groups were involved in any way.
Senior officers are holding high-level review meetings twice every day to assess the evolving security situation and monitor the progress of the investigation, according to the source.
The meetings are focusing on maintaining law and order, deployment of personnel, intelligence assessment and the identification of those allegedly involved in rioting and attacks on police personnel.
The review meetings are also assessing fresh inputs received from field formations and deciding the next course of investigation.
Police are assigning separate teams to examine digital evidence, identify suspects captured in videos, verify intelligence inputs and coordinate with district police units to ensure that all leads are pursued simultaneously.
According to police, the situation at Jantar Mantar, the epicentre of the protest, is currently peaceful and remains under control with adequate deployment.
Police said that nearly 200 police personnel have sustained injuries in the ongoing protest and the subsequent clashes.
The injured include several senior officers, such as Joint Commissioner of Police Nupur Prasad, Additional Commissioner of Police Monika Bhardwaj, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Niharika Bhatt and Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Srishti Pandey.
Police said they have so far registered 12 FIRs in connection with the violence and are planning to register additional cases as more evidence is examined and more accused are identified.
(With inputs from PTI)
