The Congress on Friday (July 31, 2026) flagged conflicting claims made by the Delhi Police and their counsel in the Delhi High Court regarding the presence of a truck loaded with stones and bricks near Jantar Mantar, the main protest site from where the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) had called for a march to Parliament on July 20, as a “major contradiction”.

Indian Youth Congress (IYC) national president Uday Bhanu Chib said that on July 20, a dumper filled with stones was found outside the offices of the IYC and NSUI on Raisina Marg. Mr. Chib said that initially the truck was near Jantar Mantar, but by afternoon was parked outside the IYC office. “How did the truck end up there on that day? Were the police unaware,” he asked.

The leader said that there were barricades “everywhere” and the area was on “high alert” on that day. “The question remains: how was that truck parked there on the day of the Parliament march, and at whose instance was this done? Did the government want those stones to be used during the protest so that it could then launch a massive crackdown,” he asked.

Terming the accounts given by the police and the counsel a “major contradiction”, Mr. Chib said the truck remaining parked near Jantar Mantar till July 25 was a “massive security failure”. “The government counsel stated (on July 22) in the High Court that the truck was linked to the protesters. On July 28, Delhi Police tweeted that the truck had been seized following an accident. This in itself is a major contradiction,” he said.

On the morning of July 20, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke had pointed to the stone-laden truck near the protest site and demanded an explanation from the Delhi Police on how it had crossed the cordon and reached the site. “It could have been used to frame the protesters or incite violence,” he had said.

After a media report highlighted on July 28 that the truck had been in custody of Delhi Police since July 16, the police issued a statement. Deputy Commissioner of Police, New Delhi, said that claims alleging that the truck was deliberately deployed by police near Jantar Mantar or outside any political party office were false and misleading.

“The truck was seized in FIR No. 65/2026 on 16.07.2026 in connection with a road traffic accident involving the truck and an EECO van, in which six persons were injured earlier that day. The seized vehicle was initially parked near PS Parliament Street for safe custody due to space constraints. Considering the law and order arrangements for the “Chalo Sansad” movement, it was later emptied and shifted to a safer place in the early hours of 20.07.2026, after due instructions to the owner. Any claim linking the vehicle to a conspiracy against protesters is completely baseless,” DCP New Delhi said in a post on X.

On July 22, while opposing the petition on police atrocities against unarmed protesters in the High Court, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju had said that the protests had turned violent and videos showed the crowd throwing stones. He had stated that the petitioners themselves admitted that a truck loaded with stones and bricks was found at the place of the incident and “to get away from the fact that these stones were accumulated by them, they are now saying they were brought by the police, which cannot be believed prima facie.”

Published - July 31, 2026 11:14 pm IST