As visitors enter Jantar Mantar, they are greeted by a heavy security presence, including several Delhi Police vehicles such as the Vajra, a specialised anti-riot and crowd-control vehicle, and the high-tech Ikshana surveillance van equipped with 360-degree cameras, facial recognition software and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology.
Two Delhi Police surveillance vehicles have been stationed outside Kerala House, close to the protest site. One is the force’s Mobile Command and Control Vehicle, which streams live CCTV footage to officers on the ground. The other is the Ikshana vehicle, whose video feeds are processed through facial recognition software.
Videos circulating on social media over the past two days appear to show the system in operation, with officers monitoring screens as software detects faces in the crowd and compares them against police databases.
According to Delhi Police sources, Facial Recognition System (FRS) cameras have been installed at multiple locations in and around Jantar Mantar in view of the prevailing law and order situation in New Delhi district.
The primary objective, police said, is to ensure that anti-social elements, wanted criminals or individuals with criminal backgrounds do not infiltrate the ongoing protest.
Police sources said the deployment of FRS cameras is a standard security measure and has been undertaken on several previous occasions during major public events and festivals in the national capital, including Republic Day, Independence Day, Holi, Diwali, Eid and Ramlila celebrations.
The sources rejected claims that the cameras had been installed to monitor or spy on protesters, describing such allegations as “incorrect and misleading.”
According to the sources, Delhi Police and central security agencies have also received intelligence inputs indicating that cross-border terrorist organisations are closely monitoring the student protests and may attempt to exploit the situation to disrupt public order and create unrest in the country.
The Facial Recognition System (FRS), police said, is designed to identify individuals whose photographs already exist in police records rather than track or profile every person participating in the protest.
The system compares faces captured through CCTV cameras with images stored in the police’s criminal database. “We maintain a repository of photographs of known offenders. The software analyses footage from CCTV cameras in the area and alerts us if it detects a match with anyone in our database,” an officer said.
Police officials said the technology is being used to enhance security, trace wanted persons and prevent any disruption to law and order during large public gatherings.
At the centre of the surveillance arrangement is the Ikshana vehicle, a mobile monitoring platform inducted by Delhi Police ahead of the 2023 G20 Summit. Two such vehicles have been deployed near Jantar Mantar during the ongoing protest.
Officials said one vehicle functions as a mobile command centre, receiving live feeds from CCTV cameras installed around the protest site, while the second processes the footage using AI-based facial recognition software. The system scans video in real time and compares faces with those available in police databases to identify individuals with criminal records or those wanted in ongoing investigations.
According to officials, the deployment is part of Delhi Police’s growing use of technology-driven surveillance tools aimed at improving crowd management, strengthening public safety and supporting security operations during large-scale events.