5 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jul 18, 2026 09:13 PM IST
It wasn’t an easy Saturday morning for activist Sonam Wangchuk, the Cockroach Janta Party leaders, and the protesters who had gathered at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET-UG paper leak.
Wangchuk was shifted to the hospital early Saturday by the Delhi Police, with the latter citing medical advice and directions of the Delhi High Court, after his health deteriorated on the 21st day of his indefinite fast.
It all began a day earlier when the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, in a sudden move, removed Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golchha and appointed Anurag Kumar in his place. After taking charge on Friday, Kumar, according to a report in The Indian Express, met with all the special commissioners of police-rank officers and began preparing a strategy to remove Wangchuk from the protest site.
Here’s a timeline of what has happened so far:
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- Friday, 11 pm: A message is sent to all the station house officers (SHOs) of the New Delhi district to assemble at the Parliament Street police station, along with 10 police personnel, at 3 am.
- 3 am: New Delhi district police personnel reach the spot for a supposed “security drill” ahead of the Monsoon session of the Parliament.
- Personnel were then taken to Mandir Marg police station, where DCP Sachin Sharma briefed them about their exact plan to remove Sonam Wangchuk from the protest site.
- Police install a phone jammer in the protest area.
- 6:30 am: Dipke heads out for a restroom break. A group of men carrying white sheets approach the stage where Wangchuk lies.
- Police, dressed in civilian dress, hurriedly place a white curtain across the protest stage and attempt to remove Sonam Wangchuk.
- At the protest site, protesters form a human chain in an attempt to prevent officials from taking Wangchuk away.
- Wangchuk, picked up by 4-5 policemen, is taken to the Safdarjung Hospital in an ambulance.
- 7:40 am: Charu Bamba, Medical Superintendent of the Safdarjung Hospital, updates the media about Wangchuk’s health. He has “mild dehydration and his vital signs are stable,” Bamba told the reporters.
- 8:25 am: CJP leader Saurav Das shares a post on X, saying Wangchuk is being taken to an unknown location. He expresses concerns over Wangchuk’s safety and demands that Delhi Police “immediately tell us where is Sonam!?”
- 8:40 am: Gitanjali J Angmo, wife of Sonam Wangchuk, shares a post informing that she has reached the hospital and alleges that she is not being allowed to take her phone inside the hospital room.
- 9 am: Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke returns to the protest site. He alleges that he was beaten up and detained by the Delhi Police. He was also denied entry at the Jantar Mantar protest site.
- Dipke announces an indefinite hunger strike.
- Delhi Police urges protestors at Jantar Mantar to vacate the site at the earliest.
- Heavy police have been deployed outside Safdarjung Hospital, where Sonam Wangchuk is admitted.
- CJP alleges the government “forcefully abducted” Sonam Wangchuk without his consent.
- Around 9:10 am: Delhi Police rubbishes CJP’s claims that protestors were detained and lathicharged at Jantar Mantar.
- A team of doctors assigned to Wangchuk is treating him on the 8th floor of the New Emergency Block at Safdarjung, as per the directions of the Delhi High Court.
- Wangchuk’s wife urges doctors not to administer any oral or intravenous treatment to her husband without the consent of his family and the medical team monitoring his health during the hunger strike.
- Around 10 am: Social activist Yogendra Yadav reaches the protest site and climbs up the stage to show solidarity. Dipke is moved to tears.
- Leaders – from former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Congress leader Sachin Pilot, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat, Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal, and others including Sanjay Singh, Manish Sisodia — speak out on Wangchuk’s removal from the protest site.
- 1:10 pm: Sonam Wangchuk will return to Jantar Mantar to continue his protest, announces Dipke.
- Around 1:15 pm: A woman throws ink-like liquid at CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke during his address to the protesters. Chaos erupts.
- 1:30 pm: Woman who threw ink at Abhijeet Dipke is detained
- 2 pm: Gitanjali J Angmo, Wangchuk’s wife informs media that Wangchuk had refused electrolyte powder and continued with his fast, according to PTI.
- 4 pm: Rahul Gandhi backs Sonam Wangchuk, says students’ voices cannot be subdued.
- 4:30 pm: Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali, posted an update on her X account about his health stating that his potassium level has dropped to 2.9, compared with 4.3 a day earlier. She also alleged that the family was denied a second medical opinion and access to Wangchuk’s blood sample for independent testing and is now seeking his discharge to another hospital.
- 5:00 pm: CJP founder’s father questions Centre after Abhijeet Dipke begins hunger strike
- 6.00 pm: Activist Anna Hazare is urging the Union government to hold talks with Sonam Wangchuk.
- 6: 30 pm: Security intensified in Delhi after Sonam Wangchuk’s hospitalisation, ahead of the Monday protest march.
- 8:00 pm: CPI (M), CPI condemn police action against Sonam Wangchuk, back NEET protest.
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