Delhi Police take legal action over viral Gurdwara Bangla Sahib shoe video

Delhi Police are pursuing legal action against individuals sharing social media footage that purported to show officers wearing shoes inside Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, stating the video was distributed with deliberate malicious intent to stoke communal tensions.

The footage emerged on Saturday during a citywide security clampdown aimed at stopping an unauthorised march towards Jantar Mantar. Protesters demonstrating against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had sought shelter on the shrine’s grounds, prompting police to move into the complex.

Addressing the online outcry, Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Sachin Sharma said the officers recorded in the clip were moving through an open common passage rather than any sacred prayer area. Devotees routinely use the exact same walkway to reach the counter where shoes are deposited before entering the gurdwara itself.

"The video has been circulated deliberately with malicious intent, to outrage the feelings of a respectable religious community and is prejudicial to religious harmony," Sharma said, confirming that criminal proceedings were being initiated against those propagating the footage.

What happened at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib

The dispute unfolded as central Delhi saw a security deployment of more than 40,000 personnel from the Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Forces. Demonstrators affiliated with the Cockroach Janta Party had attempted to assemble to demand the chief election commissioner's resignation over alleged electoral roll revisions. When security personnel moved to disperse the gatherings, several demonstrators entered the gurdwara complex.

Some opposition figures, including Aam Aadmi Party leaders Saurabh Bhardwaj and Jarnail Singh, raised objections to the police presence on sacred ground.

However, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee firmly rejected accusations that the police had desecrated the site. Harmeet Singh Kalka, president of the committee, said the demonstrators had entered with placards and begun chanting slogans, attempting to push past staff members into the main hall.

"Does anyone want the sanctum of the gurdwara to be used as a political arena? Let me clarify that we will not tolerate this," Kalka said. He explained that although the gurdwara provides food and sanctuary to all visitors, it would not permit its premises to serve as a platform for political demonstrations. Kalka added that temple authorities had intervened after protesters refused to leave, and backed the police for clearing individuals using the site for political agitation.

Detentions across the capital

Security operations on Saturday saw broad detentions across the New Delhi district, where prohibitory orders were enforced. Figures on total detentions varied between reports, with accounts citing between 4,000 and upwards of 7,000 people placed into custody. Those held near the shrine included activist Yashaswinee Raje Singh, who stated online that she was taken by officers while sitting in a nearby park.

Police officials reiterated that investigators are identifying specific accounts and online channels that distributed the edited footage in an effort to initiate formal prosecutions.