Chakka jam: Thousands of policemen on watch today

Cops also monitoring content on social media to keep a watch on those spreading rumours against government

NEW DELHI: The farmer protest sites at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders have been hemmed in with multilayered barricading and are being heavily patrolled ahead of Saturday’s three-hour long nationwide highway blockade, “the chakka jam”, called by farmers to intensify their protest against the new farm laws.

The Delhi Police on Friday reiterated that no permission was granted to protesters for holding the chakka jam or any other demonstration and legal action will be taken against those found disrupting the city’s traffic and law and order.

The protest sites are under multilayered barricading with barbed wiring on top, concrete walls, trenches, nails boards drilled onto roads and netting to stop pelted stones, besides a heavy contingent of security personnel armed with anti-riot gear. These measures, the police said, were to keep the farmers from entering the national capital on Saturday.

The police have also started monitoring content on social media to keep a watch on those spreading rumours or instigating people against the government and the police.

Even though the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 40 farm unions, has announced that “there will be no chakka jam inside Delhi”, police said they have tightened the security arrangements, especially on all borders connecting Delhi with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, keeping in view the January 26 violence during the farmers’ tractor rally.

Apart from thousands of Delhi Police, nearly 15,000 personnel from the paramilitary forces of Rapid Action Force (RAF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) – all armed with anti-riot equipment

– will be on duty to maintain Delhi’s law and order during the chakka jam. Workers of political parties and student organisations have planned a foot march from Shaheed Park near Delhi Gate to ITO during the chakka jam.

Traffic on Haryana highways likely to be affected

The proposed nationwide ‘chakka jam’ is likely to affect movement of vehicles on all national and state highways passing through Haryana. Traffic on Ambala-delhi stretch of NH-44, Faridabad-agra stretch of NH-29, Gurugram-jaipur stretch of NH-48, Hisar-rohtakdelhi stretch of NH-10 is expected to get affected.