A video that went viral on 10 October 2026 is said to show Delhi Police personnel wearing shoes inside Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, where protesters had gathered. Delhi Police say the personnel were in a passage that devotees use before taking off their shoes, and call the video malicious. Neither account has been independently verified, so we rate the claim disputed.
Claim: A video shows police officers wearing shoes inside Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, against Sikh religious practice.
Said by: Viral social media posts on 10 October 2026. The reports we have do not name who first posted it.
What the record shows: New Delhi DCP Sachin Sharma says the personnel were in a passage used before removing shoes, and that the video was "circulated deliberately with malicious intent". No fact-checker, gurdwara official or independent outlet has confirmed or rejected either version.
Where the claim came from
Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in central Delhi became a gathering point for protesters on 10 October. About 200 students from Punjab reached the 10 October protest after spending the night there, group leader Ranbir Singh Randhawa told The Tribune; several were later detained. Tribune
Documented Hundreds of protesters who had been inside the gurdwara for more than five hours were detained as they came out, ThePrint reported. ThePrint
Claim · CJP The Cockroach Janta Party said police "forcibly entered" Gurdwara Bangla Sahib and detained volunteers, and called it "state abduction". ETV Bharat Claim · AAP AAP said the BJP was disrespecting Sikh faith and the dignity of gurdwaras by detaining young protesters there. AAP The shoes video circulated in this setting.
What the evidence shows
Police position Late on 10 October, New Delhi DCP Sachin Sharma said police would take legal action over the viral video allegedly showing officers wearing shoes inside the gurdwara. He said it had been "circulated deliberately with malicious intent", and that the personnel were in a passage devotees use before removing their shoes, ETV Bharat reported. ETV Bharat
The police account does not deny that personnel wore shoes in the gurdwara complex. It says where they were. Whether that spot is a passage outside the area where shoes must be removed is a question of the building's layout, which neither the police nor the people sharing the clip have shown.
Not independently verified We found no check of the clip by PIB Fact Check, Alt News, BOOM or another fact-checker, no statement from the gurdwara's management, and no outlet that has matched the footage to a location inside the complex. Police have not said what legal action they plan or against whom. Until one of these appears, the police version is a claim, just as the original post is.
Context
Bangla Sahib stayed a flashpoint on 11 October. The CJP said five of its leaders were detained near Gate No. 3 of the gurdwara, which police did not confirm. CJP CJP's Ajinkya Shinde said police stopped protesters at Bangla Sahib and Connaught Place and that they were "brutally assaulted and detained"; police did not respond to the assault claim. Ajinkya Shinde
The full record is on our Jantar Mantar 10 October page.
Questions people ask
Did police wear shoes inside Bangla Sahib gurdwara?
It is disputed. Police say the personnel were in a passage used before removing shoes. No independent check of the video has been published.
Were protesters detained at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib?
Yes. ThePrint reported that hundreds who had been inside for more than five hours were detained as they came out on 10 October.
Will police take action over the Bangla Sahib video?
DCP Sachin Sharma said police would take legal action. No case details had been made public by 11 October.
Sources
- ETV Bharat: CJP protest live updates, 10 Oct 2026
- ThePrint: Jantar Mantar CJP protest live updates, 10 Oct 2026
- The Tribune: CJP protest live updates, 10 Oct 2026
- AAP on X: detentions near gurdwaras, 10 Oct 2026
- CJP on X: five leaders detained, 11 Oct 2026
- Ajinkya Shinde on X: protesters stopped at Bangla Sahib and Connaught Place, 11 Oct 2026
