Delhi Police have arrested 22 people who allegedly used chilli spray against cops when they tried to remove them for blocking the road at India Gate’s C-Hexagon on Sunday, November 23. Police have filed two separate FIRs and invoked relevant sections. The group was protesting against the rising pollution levels in the national capital and was heard raising slogans such as, “Saaf hawa dena hoga, warna roz dharna hoga [Give us clean air, or there will be protests every day].”
Delhi pollution protest: 22 arrested
“Delhi Police registered an FIR and arrested around 22 people for using chilli spray on Police personnel, obstructing official work and blocking the road. Relevant sections invoked in the FIR,” news agency ANI wrote on X (formerly Twitter), quoting Delhi Police.
It added, “This happened during the protest at India Gate yesterday.”
#UPDATE | Delhi Police registered an FIR and arrested more than 15 people for using chilli spray on Police personnel, obstructing official work and blocking the road. Relevant sections invoked in the FIR: Delhi Police.
— ANI (@ANI) November 24, 2025
This happened during the protest at India Gate yesterday. https://t.co/D6OimsYwj5
At Kartavya Path Police Station, six male protesters have been arrested under BNS sections 74, 79, 115(2), 132, 221, 223, and 61(2).
A second FIR has been registered at the Sansad Marg Police Station, where additional protesters have been taken into custody. They have been booked under BNS sections 223A, 132, 221, 121A, 126(2), and 3(5).
‘They used chilly spray against police personnel’
A police officer told ANI that the protesters first gathered inside the C-Hexagon and then attempted to cross the barricades placed there for temporary closure. He said the group refused to listen to instructions, broke the barricades, entered the C-Hexagon, and sat on the road.
“For around one hour, they were sitting on the road. We requested that many of the ambulances and the medical people are behind them, and they required the emergency movement, but they did not listen, and the people were also getting agitated,” DCP Devesh Kumar Mahla told ANI.
The police, taking into account the seriousness of the situation, then moved the protesters towards Kartavya Path.
“While removing them, many of the protesters scuffled with the police, male and female both and many of our personnel also got injured… They not only used force and violence against the police personnel, but also, we also first time came across that they used chilly spray against the police personnel, and a few of our police personnel got the spray on their face and eyes,” he added.
The cops were taken to RML Hospital for treatment, and legal action is now underway.
Delhi pollution protest at India Gate
The residents of Delhi gathered at India Gate to stage a protest against the deteriorating air quality of the national capital. It was held on Sunday evening at C Hexagon, India Gate.
The police claim that the protestors were holding posters of a Maoist commander who was killed in the encounter.
The news agency added, “But the protesters were holding posters of Maoist commander Madvi Hidma (who was recently killed in the encounter).”
#WATCH | Delhi: A group of protesters holds a protest at India Gate over air pollution in Delhi-NCR. They were later removed from the spot by police personnel pic.twitter.com/DBEZTeET0U
— ANI (@ANI) November 23, 2025
Protestors, on the other hand, say that Delhi Police “brutally detained” them and took them to Sansad Marg.
“Today’s protest at India Gate was against the rising pollution in Delhi. Students from various organisations participated in it. The government must take responsibility for the condition of Delhi and its residents. The protesters were brutally detained,” one of the protestors claimed, as per a report by Jansatta.
The protestor added, “In the video, the police can be seen behaving violently with them. Five of our members were arrested and taken to Sansad Marg, and 17 others who were protesting outside Sansad Marg were also detained.”
Residents of Delhi staged a protest on November 9, too, at the same spot, demanding that the government implement policies to curb air pollution.
Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 395 at 10 am in Delhi, falling under the “very poor” category despite the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)-III in effect across Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
According to the CPCB, the Ghazipur area recorded an AQI of 441. AQI of Anand Vihar stood at 440 on Monday morning, which falls under the “severe” pollution category. Bawana recorded an AQI of 434 at 7 am, placing it as well in the “severe” category. In contrast, NSIT Dwarka recorded an AQI of 322, which falls in the “very poor” category, according to CPCB.
The air quality is likely to be in the “very poor” category from November 23 to November 26 as per the Air Quality Early Warning System (EWS) forecast.
