Who is Sandeep Lamba, the Delhi cop removed from protest site duty after slapping female protester?

Delhi is jam-packed as the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) protest against paper leaks and examination irregularities in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) continues. Several videos of students vs police at Jantar Mantar are spiralling on social media.

Among them is a video showing a Delhi police officer slapping a female protester during the ‘Chalo Sansad’ march on July 20 at Jantar Mantar. The senior Delhi cop, identified in the now-viral video, is Sandeep Lamba, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) (North East District).

Watch the video here:

Lamba has now been removed from the protest site and sent back to his original station. Action against him was taken after he was mentioned during a Delhi High Court hearing on Wednesday (July 22).

We take a look.

Who is Sandeep Lamba?

Lamba is a 2011 batch officer of the Delhi Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli Police Service (DANIPS) cadre.

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Within the police force, Lamba is widely regarded as a credible investigator. He was also awarded the Union Home Minister’s medal for excellent investigation in 2021, The Print reported.

In 2024, he returned to the Delhi segment of the cadre. Lamba has been posted in the North East district since then. Previously, he also worked for a long tenure as Assistant Commissioner of Police in the Crime Branch.

On Monday (July 20), during a protest march to Parliament by CJP and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk (who first proposed the march), Lamba, who is the Additional DCP in the North East district, was deployed to maintain law and order on the ground.

However, he has now been removed from the Jantar Mantar protest site and asked to report back to the district.

Why was Lamba removed from Jantar Mantar?

At the centre of the controversy is his 36-second slapping video near the Parliament complex. A DCP-rank officer told the publication, admitting that Lamba "lost cool" in the “spur of the moment” and raised his hand on a female protester.

“The woman had something like nails in her hand and was not responding to the call to leave the site despite clear instructions from the officer. She had a nail-like substance in her hand and was arguing with the officer,” the official said as quoted by The Print.

“The officer lost cool and committed the act. He has been asked to maintain discipline with regard to dealing with women protesters," the officer added.

His name also appeared during a Delhi High Court hearing on Wednesday (July 22) on a plea alleging excessive use of force against protesters.

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who appeared for the petitioners, told a bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia: "The woman is not moving. I can show the video right now. Let us not be scared to name our thugs in uniform when they deserve to be named. He should be summoned here, and he should be asked to be accountable."

Trouble further mounted for Lamba. A police complaint against him has now been filed by former Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale.

On X, Gokhale said, "Yesterday, in the Delhi High Court, the Government's answer to the petitions on police brutality was that nobody had approached the police for an FIR. So today I filed a police complaint."

What happened on July 20?

On July 20, a sea of people gathered at the Jantar Mantar to participate in the Parliament march announced by CJP. The proposed march, first announced by activist Sonam Wangchuk, was named the “Chalo Sansad” march.

However, CJP leaders did not lead the protest, and their two spokespersons met Union Minister JP Nadda with their written demands. They said that Nadda assured them, stating that he would get back to them after speaking to the top brass.

As the crowd ballooned, a clash with cops was also reported. Rapid Action Force and cops were reportedly used lathis to disperse the crowd and intercept the march from proceeding. Delhi police say the CJP did not seek any permission for the proposed march to Parliament.

Later that night, despite the police crackdown, protesters regrouped at Jantar Mantar, where CJP's Abhijit Dipke led the gathering and apologised for being unable to protect the students.

Since then, the protests have continued, with the Centre deploying the Border Security Force (BSF) and other paramilitary personnel to the area alongside the Delhi Police.

The demonstration also witnessed the leader of the opposition, Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and several other senior leaders on July 21. They carried out a dharna outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence in Delhi, demanding Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation over paper leak.

With inputs from agencies