Stone-laden truck at Jantar Mantar: malkhanas in need of better upkeep

A truck carrying stones that was spotted near a protest site at Jantar Mantar ahead of a planned march to Parliament on July 20, 2026, had been in police custody for four days, an investigation by Newslaundry found.

The vehicle was seized on July 16 following a collision with an Eeco van. It was subsequently seen parked outside the Indian Youth Congress office on Raisina Road for several days.

The Delhi Police strongly rejected allegations of a conspiracy, describing claims that the vehicle had been deliberately deployed as false and misleading. In an official statement, the force said the truck had been emptied and moved to a safer location in the early hours of July 20 because of space constraints and security arrangements for the march.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, New Delhi, Sachin Sharma said there were no contradictions in the police accounts. He maintained that the lorry had been kept away from the protest site and that vehicles with valid permits were allowed to enter the restricted zone.

Police explain vehicle’s presence

According to police officials, the lorry and the Eeco van involved in the accident were moved to the malkhana (storage facility) at Parliament Street Police Station.

“The truck was seized on July 16 in connection with FIR No. 65/2026 following a road accident involving the truck and an Eeco van, in which six persons were injured earlier that day,” the Delhi Police said in a statement. “It was initially parked near the police station for safe custody due to space constraints. Later it was emptied and shifted — after instructing the owner of the vehicle considering the “Chalo Sansad” movement — to a safer place,” it said.

The statement added that the police had not pushed any allegation towards the protestors’ connection to the truck. “Any claim linking the vehicle to a conspiracy against protesters is completely baseless. Citizens are advised not to spread unverified information,” it said.

Truck cited during court hearing

On July 22, a division bench of the Delhi High Court comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia heard petitions alleging police excesses during the demonstrations.

Opposing the petitions, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the Delhi Police and the Central government, argued that they rested on the suppression of facts and relied on social media videos whose authenticity could not readily be accepted. He said the demonstrations had turned violent and pointed to footage purportedly showing police personnel being injured and police vehicles being damaged.

Turning to the lorry, Raju said, “There are videos which show that the crowd was indulging in stone-pelting. As admitted by the petitioners themselves, there was a truck loaded with stones and bricks at the place of the incident.”

He alleged that the petitioners were claiming the stones had been brought by the police “to get away from the fact that these stones were accumulated by them”, which he said, “cannot be believed prima facie”.

“Some persons in the mob might not have done it, but there are other elements in the mob which might have resorted to such acts,” he said.

Invoking the legal principle governing unlawful assemblies, Raju added, “My lords are aware that if you are part of a mob or an unlawful assembly, anything and everything done by that unlawful assembly is attributed to you. That is a settled principle.”

These submissions were made nearly a week before the Delhi Police publicly confirmed that the lorry had been in its custody.

The court directed the Delhi Police and the Union of India to file their counter-affidavits within four weeks and scheduled the matter for further hearing on September 11.

Vehicles crowd police storage facilities

The disputed lorry is among the many abandoned, unclaimed, stolen and accident-damaged vehicles seized by the Delhi Police.

Such vehicles often remain at the police station where the case was registered. Some are moved to centralised malkhanas when storage facilities in individual districts run out of space. At present, the Wazirabad malkhana is the only centralised impound yard serving all 15 districts of the Delhi Police.

According to Delhi Police data cited by the reporter, officials have seized more than 15.1 lakh vehicles this year from January 1 to August 4.

Nehru Place yard falls into disrepair

The Nehru Place malkhana, which was once considerably busier, is now largely deserted. Much of the enclosure is dilapidated, with only two abandoned vehicles parked inside, while residents use the space as a meeting place.

“There is no gate to protect the space from outsiders, so officials keep seized vehicles here only for comparatively shorter periods. If a vehicle stays longer, they shift it to the Narela pit,” said a guard at the site.

Repeated fires at such facilities have added to concerns. In 2025, around 500 cars were reportedly destroyed in at least two separate fires at the facility.

A similar pattern has emerged at the centralised malkhana in Wazirabad. Fires there in 2025 and 2024 destroyed at least 300 and 450 vehicles, respectively.

The incidents have largely been attributed to vehicles being parked close together and prolonged exposure to heat affecting their batteries. According to EV charging station manufacturer Exponent Energy, “Hot summers and bad thermal management affect performance and life but don’t cause fires; 99% of battery fires are due to short circuits leading to uncontrolled current. This is the only scenario in which cells heat themselves up beyond 100°C. These are caused by poor cell quality, poor battery design, and overcharging.”

“Almost all these incidents occur during the summer season. The maintenance of these facilities is not as efficient as it should be,” a traffic police officer said.

Although the establishment of other impound yards across the national capital has provided some relief, the facilities remain inadequate for the number of vehicles seized.

Two-wheelers and e-rickshaws account for most of the vehicles stored at these facilities. Their registers contain page after page of entries for scooters and motorcycles.

“Most are seized because they have been abandoned,” a traffic police constable said.

Vehicles are therefore sometimes kept near police stations while awaiting transfer to an impound yard, collection by their owners or auction. The police retain custody during this period and must arrange for the vehicles to be moved.

“We have to move the heavier vehicles ourselves or, basically, get a third-party driver to do it, since some of them cannot be towed,” a senior official said on condition of anonymity.