The controversy over police conduct at the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest in Delhi sharpened on Tuesday after Delhi Police rejected allegations that officers had used a baton fitted with nails during the demonstration at Jantar Mantar.

The force said on X that no such incident had taken place and that the protest was being handled “professionally,” while also dismissing a viral video as unrelated to the event.

BOOM, however, reported that the footage was recorded at the protest site on July 20 and uploaded the following day by UPSC aspirant Upendra Gaur.

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The tale grows rather thorny

The protest turned violent on July 20 after Delhi Police and the Rapid Action Force used tear gas and lathis on demonstrators who were attempting to march towards Parliament.

Delhi Police publicly denied allegations of sporadic violence and detentions at Jantar Mantar, but the on-ground accounts pointed in the opposite direction.

BOOM said its review of the video, metadata, and location markers established that the clip showing a baton with nails was shot near Gate No. 3 of Janpath Metro Station, close to the protest area.

One account, many questions

Gaur confirmed he was present at the protest and filmed the video near the Janpath Metro Station intersection.

“When the police were beating the protesters, we noticed that one of the batons had nails fitted into it,” he said, adding that some girls had been injured.

The fact-checker also said it spoke to another protester who filmed the scene from a different angle. The longer version of the video showed the clip was recorded at 4.33 pm on July 20, 2026.

The GPS coordinates extracted from the footage matched the location where the protest videos were recorded.

The devil, as ever, is in the detail

Although there is a careful line between verifying where the footage was shot and proving who altered the baton.

The videos establish that the footage was recorded near the protest site, but they do not independently show who fitted the nails into the baton or whether it was used by police personnel.

That distinction is central to the dispute, because Delhi Police has maintained that the video was not related to the protest and has called the claim fake.

The same claim was amplified by the official X handle of PIB Fact Check.

More voices join the growing chorus

Neeraj Jha, editor of Molitics, said he was detained by Delhi Police during the protest and saw officers assault demonstrators.

Videos shared from the protest showed heavy barricading with a large deployment of police and RAF personnel. Some of footage also appeared to show police lathi-charging protesters, including women and minors.

Although the precise allegation regarding a nail-fitted baton is yet unsubstantiated beyond the location and time verification, these clips reinforce the argument that police action occurred during the event.

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FAQs

Q1: Did Delhi Police use a baton fitted with nails at the CJP protest?

BOOM verified the viral video was filmed at the July 20 protest site but said it could not independently confirm who fitted the nails or whether police used the baton.

Q2: Why did Delhi Police call the viral baton video fake?

Delhi Police said the video was unrelated to the protest and denied allegations of brutality, a claim disputed by BOOM’s location and metadata verification.